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E STORY  OF  SENSA 

I. INTERPRETATION   OFTHE 

YLL  OF  THE  WHITE  LOTUS 


MABEL    COLLINS 


THE  LIBRARY 

OF 
THE  UNIVERSITY 

OF  CALIFORNIA 
LOS  ANGELES 


THE  STORY  OF   SENSA 

AN    INTERPRETATION   OF 

THE  IDYLL  OF  THE  WHITE  LOTUS 


EY 

MABEL  COLLINS 

A  THREEFOLD  NARRATIVE 

1.  A    STORY    OF    BLACK    MAGIC    IN    ANCIENT 

EGYPT. 

2.  THE  INITIATIONS  OF  AN  EGYPTIAN  HEIRO- 

PHANT. 

3.  THE    TRAGEDY    AND    APOTHEOSIS    OF    THE 

HUMAN   SOUL. 


NEW  YORK : 

JOHN  W.  LOVELL,   PUBLISHER, 
1  West  34th  Street 


COPYRIGHT,  1913, 

BY 
MABEL  COOK 


PS 
1373 


THE  STORY  OF   SENSA 

An  Interpretation  of 
The  Idyll  of  the  White  Lotus 

CHAPTER  I. 

THE  story  of  Sensa,  as  told  with  marvel- 
lous and  mystic  art  in  The  Idyll  of  the 
White  Lotus  contains  within  itself  three 
narratives,  separate  yet  inseparable, 
united  in  their  very  nature  and  essence,  as 
are  the  three  leaflets  of  the  trefoil  clover. 
They  cannot  be  taken  apart,  but  they  can 
be  looked  upon  separately  and  in  each 
is  contained  something  vital  which  ap- 
peals to  the  deepest  part  of  the  human 
nature  within  ourselves.  No  student  of 
occultism  who  has  once  read  this  Idyll 
and  penetrated  within  any  part  of  its 
mystic  veil,  can  forget  it  or  be  parted 


160-6051. 


THE  STORY  OF  SENSA,  AN  INTERPRETATION 

from  it,  because  it  relates  his  own  story, 
the  tragedy  and  ultimate  apotheosis  of 
his  own  soul,  and  is  therefore  an  essen- 
tial part  of  himself. 

I  am  able  to  write  of  the  Idyll  as  a 
critic  and  a  student,  not  as  its  author  in 
any  sense,  because  I  simply  placed  it 
upon  paper  in  human  language,  as  it  was 
told  to  me  in  the  mystical  and  universal 
language,  when  my  personality  was  in 
the  state  'known  to  the  occultists  of 
Southern  India  as  "  swapna  " — obscurely 
translated  into  English  by  the  words 
"  somnambulic  clairvoyance."  In  1878  I 
was  deeply  engrossed  in  literary  work 
which  kept  me  constantly  at  my  writing 
table,  and  from  the  window  of  the  room 
I  worked  in  I  saw  Cleopatra's  Needle 
brought  up  the  river  and  set  up  upon  the 
Embankment.  A  procession  of  superb 
Egyptian  priests  began  from  that  time  to 

2 


OF  THE  IDYLL  OF  THE  WHITE  LOTUS.  ;Y 

come  into  my  room — coming  up  the 
staircase  and  entering  the  door — and 
stood  around  my  table.  I  thought  at 
first  it  was  the  appearance  of  astral 
forms  connected  with  the  Needle.  But 
as  these  mysterious  visits  continued 
and  culminated  in  a  great  effort,  it  is 
evident  that  if  they  were  astral  forms 
they  were  animated  and  directed  by  the 
egos  to  which  they  belonged,  and  were 
indeed  the  Kas  of  certain  priests  of  an- 
cient Egypt.  It  is  of  course  known  as  a 
fact  that  the  religious  Egyptians  under- 
stood that  the  Ka  or  astral  form  of  a 
person  who  had  lived  a  spiritual  life 
could  be  used  by  the  ego  of  that  person 
for  great  purposes  if  carefully  preserved 
and  protected.  Also  it  has  been  stated 
that  the  Ka  or  astral  form  exists  to  serve 
the  purpose  of  supplying  information 
with  regard  to  events  on  the  physical 
3 


THE  STORY  OF  SENSA,  AN  INTERPRETATION 

plane  to  its  ego  in  Devachan.  This 
seems  to  be  what  took  place  in  this  case, 
and  when  the  hour  was  ripe  the  ego 
came  to  the  place  where  its  work  had  to 
be  done,  and  aroused  the  ego  within  my- 
self so  that  I  stood  out  of  myself 
to  receive  the  message,  and  wrote  it 
down  upon  the  paper  on  my  table,  ar- 
resting the  thinking  principle  of  my 
brain  in  its  action  while  this  was  ac- 
complished. Thus  the  story  was  passed 
from  the  higher  consciousness  to  the 
lower,  intact  and  perfect.  The  "Ka"  of 
the  Ancient  Egyptians  is  the  "  astral 
form  "  of  the  Theosophists,  the  "  spook  " 
of  the  spiritualist's  seance  room,  the 
"  ghost  "  of  all  time  and  all  countries.  It 
was  regarded  by  the  Egyptians  as  earth- 
bound,  unenlightened,  ignorant  and  re- 
taining the  lowest  of  the  physical  de- 
sires of  the  man.  They  had  an  object 
4 


OF  THE  IDYLL  OF  THE  WHITE  LOTUS. 

in  keeping  it  imprisoned  in  the  tomb  of 
the  body,  and  they  therefore  provided  it 
with  amusements  and  pleasures  there 
to  prevent  its  roaming  about  and  per- 
haps seeking  still  less  desirable  gratifica- 
tions. They  had  an  elaborate  ritual  by 
which  they  kept  it  there  instead  of  allow- 
ing it  to  become  disintegrated  on  the 
astral  plane.  This  was  done  because  they 
held  that  the  ego  in  its  high  place  might 
in  the  future  need  its  services  upon  earth, 
and  come  to  seek  it;  and  they  believed 
that  from  time  to  time  this  occurred.  Of 
course  the  priests's  knowledge  of  magic 
and  the  mysteries  of  the  after  life  was 
regarded  as  great  enough  to  establish  and 
hold  such  a  connection  over  the  centur- 
ies. The  shapes  of  priests  who  came  into 
my  room  and  stood  around  my  table  be- 
fore the  Idyll  of  the  White  Lotus  was 
written  were  not  seen  by  others;  it  re- 
5 


THE  STORY  OF  SENSA,  AN  INTERPRETATION 

quired'  "  waking  clairvoyance  "  (jagrat) 
to  perceive  them;  but  still,  they  were 
ghosts,  pure  and  simple,  the  shades  of 
the  dead.  But,  as  no  doubt  the  ego  of  a 
great  adept  undertook  the  task  of  writ- 
ing the  Idyll  it  is  more  than  probable  that 
at  the  moment  when  the  work  was  actu- 
ally begun,  when  I  was  summoned  into 
the  higher  consciousness,  each  one  of 
these  ghosts  was  inhabited  by  its  true 
ego,  or  spiritual  form. 

These  priests  were  not  the  priests  who 
appear  as  characters  in  the  book;  it  is 
necessary  to  state  this  clearly  to  avoid 
any  confusion.  The  priests  who  gave 
the  story  of  Sensa  to  the  world  were 
representatives  of  the  great  spiritual  re- 
ligion, (that  "  white  magic  "  which  came 
from  prehistoric  times,)  acting  once 
more  in  a  definite  manner  upon  man  and 
aiding  his  evolution. 
6 


OF  THE  IDYLL  OF  THE  WHITE  LOTUS. 

The  priests  in  the  story  represent  those 
who  were  sorcerers,  workers  of  "  black 
magic." 

It  must  be  remembered  that  magic  is 
a  word  of  dignity  and  spirituality,  de- 
rived as  it  is,  from  the  ancient  Zend. 
It  simply  means  the  powers  and  prac- 
tises of  the  wise  men,  the  Magi.  Pro- 
fessor Walter  Budge  says :  *  "  The  belief 
in  magic,  the  word  being  used  in  its  best 
sense,  is  older  in  Egypt  than  the  belief 
in  God." — "  Egyptian  magic  dates  from 
the  time  when  the  pre-dynastic  and  pre- 
historic dwellers  in  Egypt  believed  that 
air,  and  the  sky  were  peopled  with  count- 
less beings,  visible  and  invisible,  which 
were  held  to  be  friendly  or  unfriendly 
the  earth,  and  the  underworld,  and  the 
to  man — "  He  points  out  that  the  magic 
known  in  other  countries  has  been  drawn 

*  Walter  Budge's  "  Egyptian  Magic,"  Kegan  Paul- 

7 


THE  STORY  OF  SENSA,  AN  INTERPRETATION 

from  "  the  White  Magic "  and  "  the 
Black  Magic "  of  ancient  Egypt,  and 
adds :  "  it  is  impossible  to  say  exactly 
how  much  the  beliefs  and  religious  sys- 
tems of  other  nations  were  influenced  by 
them,  but  there  is  no  doubt  that  certain 
views  and  religious  ideas  of  many 
heathen  and  Christian  sects  may  be 
traced  directly  to  them." 

This  is  the  glorious  side  of  the  retro- 
spect, showing  how  the  highest  that  is 
in  us,  and  the  best  that  we  know,  has  its 
origin  and  root  in  the  mysterious  pre- 
historic past  of  Egypt. 

A  great,  dark,  gloomy  shape  arises 
from  the  same  ancient  source  and  the 
light  and  the  darkness  battled  ceaselessly 
then  as  they  have  done  ever  since,  in  the 
world  and  in  every  man's  own  nature. 

Professor  Wallis  Budge  says :  "  To 
him  that  was  versed  in  the  lore  contained 
8 


OF  THE  IDYLL  OF  THE  WHITE  LOTUS. 

in  the  books  of  '  the  double  house  of  life  ' 
the  future  was  as  well  known  as  the 
past  and  neither  time  nor  distance  could 
limit  the  operations  of  his  power;  the 
mysteries  of  life  and  death  were  laid 
bare  before  him — Now  if  such  views  as 
these  concerning  the  magician's  power 
were  held  by  the  educated  folk  of  an- 
cient Egypt  there  is  little  to  wonder  at 
when  we  find  that  beliefs  and  supersti- 
tions of  the  most  degraded  character 
flourished  with  rank  luxuriance  among 
the  peasants  and  working  classes  of  that 
country — To  meet  the  religious  needs 
of  such  pople  the  magician,  and  in  later 
times  the  priest,  found  it  necessary  to 
provide  pageants  and  ceremonies  which 
appealed  chiefly  to  the  senses — this 
magic  degenerated  into  sorcery,  and 
demonology,  and  witchcraft,  and  those 
who  dealt  in  it  were  regarded  as  associ- 
9 


THE  STORY  OF  SENSA,  AN  INTERPRETATION 

ates  of  the  Devil  and  servants  of  the 
powers  of  darkness,  and  workers  of  the 
'  black  art.'  "  Here  we  have  the  atmos- 
phere in  which  the  story  of  Sensa  is  set, 
we  feel  how  true  to  life  is  the  picture  of 
the  innocent  neophyte  plunged  into  the 
battle  between  the  powers  of  good  and 
evil.  Subba  Rao,  the  learned  Brahmin 
Theosophist  says  of  the  Idyll :  *  "It 
truly  depicts  the  Egyptian  faith  and  the 
Egyptian  priesthood,  when  the  religion 
had  already  begun  to  lose  its  purity  and 
degenerate  into  a  system  of  Tantric  wor- 
ship contaminated  and  defiled  by  black 
magic,  unscrupulously  used  for  selfish 
and  immoral  purposes." 

If  we  first  of  all  read  the  Idyll  in  its 
artistic  setting  as  a  story  of  ancient 
Egypt,  laid  in  one  of  its  great  Temples, 
(now  long  since  a  ruin,  buried  beneath 

*  "  Esoteric  Writings  "  page  240,  (Bombay). 
10 


OF  THE  IDYLL  OF  THE  WHITE  LOTUS. 

the  dust  of  ages,)  we  see  the  young  boy, 
born  of  the  peasants,  a  fellah,  chosen 
out  of  his  family  to  enter  its  sacred 
hidden  priestly  life  as  a  novice.  He  is 
innocent,  untrained,  simple.  He  is  awe- 
struck at  the  vocation  open  to  him,  and 
at  the  majesty  and  dignity  of  the  priests. 
To  them  he  is  simply  an  ignorant  boy 
from  the  country  who  will  have  enough 
work  given  him  to  do,  such  as  he  is 
fitted  for.  They  think  nothing  of  him, 
and  Agmabd,  the  high  priest  of  the 
"  dark  goddess,"  the  leader  of  the  group 
of  black  magicians,  does  not  notice  how 
profound  is  the  impression  made  on 
the  sensitive  child  by  his  presence  and 
personality.  His  golden  beard,  his  ex- 
quisite robe,  white,  embroidered  with 
gold  in  mystic  patterns,  the  glamour 
which  encompassed  him,  rilled  Sensa 
with  strange  new  emotions,  inexplicable 
II 


THE  STORY  OF  SENSA,  AN  INTERPRETATION 

and  bewildering.  In  spite  of  his  charm 
and  gentleness  the  child  recognized  in 
him  something  hard  and  cold,  something 
scarcely  human.  He  indicates  this  by 
saying  that  Agmabd  seemed  to  him  like 
something  carved.  Agmabd  sees  a  timid 
boy,  and  bids  him  not  to  fear.  He  di- 
rects that  he  shall  be  taken  into  the 
school.  Here  where  pale  students  study 
difficult  papyri,  the  priest  who  is  their 
teacher  treats  him  with  contempt.  The 
new  novice  is  only  a  country  boy,  clearly 
no  scholar ;  there  is  no  time  to  be  wasted 
on  him.  He  directs  that  the  child  be 
taken  to  the  gardener,  who  will  be  able 
to  give  him  some  work.  He  goes  into 
this  place  of  beauty,  and  being  a  seer 
and  clairvoyant  becomes  aware  of  the 
presence  of  The  Goddess — the  spirit  of 
true  religion  becomes  visible  to  him,  per- 
sonified, rising  out  of  the  sacred  flower 


OF  THE  IDYLL  OF  THE  WHITE  LOTUS. 

of  Egypt.  In  full  waking  clairvoyance 
he  gazes  upon  her,  and  then  tries  to  ap- 
proach her,  but  this  effort  is  too  great, 
and  he  faints  away. 

The  fact  that  he  is  a  seer  at  once 
changes  his  position  in  the  Temple.  The 
black  magicians  determine  to  control 
him  and  use  his  gifts  for  their  own  ends. 
They  are  in  great  need  of  one  with  this 
gift,  to  act  as  a  medium  for  their  dark 
goddess,  to  enable  her  to  communicate 
with  them  and  with  the  people.  Every 
effort  is  made  to  secure  him  for  this  pur- 
pose. The  battle  between  the  two 
forces  of  good  and  evil  literally  rage 
over  him.  He  is  of  priceless  value  to 
Agmabd  and  the  black  magicians  who 
follow  and  obey  him.  They  have  need 
of  a  medium,  there  is  no  seer  or  clairvoy- 
ant amongst  them,  and  although  they 
have  all  the  learning  of  the  ancient  Egyp- 
13 


THE  STORY  Of  SENSA,  AN  INTERPRETATION 

tian,  all  the  powers  of  the  students  of 
magic,  they  cannot  communicate  with 
their  innermost  guide  and  controller, 
the  dark  Queen,  without  the  psychic  gift. 
It  has  been  lost  by  reason  of  their  utter 
selfishness  and  degradation,  so  that  they 
have  had  nothing  to  offer  the  people  but 
inventions  and  deceit.  They  are  placed 
before  us  in  the  position  of  the  fortune- 
tellers and  miracle-workers  of  to-day — 
when  the  power  has  left  them,  in  order 
to  keep  the  suffrages  and  the  support  of 
the  public  on  whom  they  depend  it  be- 
comes necessary  to  invent  and  to  lie* 
The  company  of  the  high  priests  are 
weary  of  subterfuge  and  exhausted  in 
invention.  The  discovery  of  a  natural 
clairvoyant,  a  born  seer,  in  one  of  the 
young  neophytes,  is  to  them  like  the 
sight  of  gold  in  the  soil  to  a  gold-digger. 
The  child  must  be  secured,  made  their 
14 


OF  THE  IDYLL  OF  THE  WHITE  LOTUS. 

slave,  trained  in  mediumship,  taught  how 
to  listen  to  the  strange  voice  of  the  dark 
Queen,  (the  personification  of  evil  and 
falsehood  and  selfishness,)  and  to  give 
her  messages  to  her  servants ;  taught  how 
to  take  their  requests  to  her  and  obtain 
from  her  the  gratification  of  their  de- 
sires. This  is  the  vocation  laid  down  for 
Sensa,  upon  which  he  is  to  enter  imme- 
diately, without  any  delay  whatever. 
They  cannot  afford  to  wait — they  have 
sold  their  very  souls  to  the  Devil,  and 
they  must  have  payment — power  and 
the  gratification  of  desire  for  them- 
selves, miracles  and  excitement  for  the 
people  who  support  them.  None  of 
these  things  can  they  get,  because  there 
is  none  among  them  with  psychic  power, 
none  who  is  not  bound  by  materialism 
in  consequence  of  evil  doing  and  selfish- 
ness. Therefore  so  soon  as  the  gardener 
15 


THE  STORY  OF  SENSA,  AN  INTERPRETATION 

tells  them  that  the  child  has  seen  a  vis- 
ion, they  claim  him  for  their  own.  But 
the  vision  was  that  of  Truth,  of  the 
personification  of  the  Logos;  the  Lily- 
Queen  of  Egypt's  pure  religion  had  dis- 
covered his  open  sight  before  the  black 
magicians  knew  of  it;  and  his  heart  had 
gone  out  to  truth  and  purity  and  love ; 
he  had  done  obeisance  to  the  Supreme. 
Therefore  the  black  magicians  found  the 
task  of  subduing  him  to  their  evil  pur- 
poses, and  selfish  will,  much  harder  than 
they  had  expected  it  to  be.  They 
thought  he  was  merely  an  ignorant  boy 
who  would  be  as  wax  in  their  hands; 
whom  they  could  use  and  exploit  with- 
out difficulty ;  but  he  was  indeed  a  human 
being  within  whom  was  illumination  and 
who  was  struggling  to  retain  it  and  to 
draw  nearer  and  nearer  to  the  light. 
The  ordeals  to  which  he  was  subjected, 
16 


OF  THE  IDYLL  OF  THE  WHITE  LOTUS. 

the  temptations  placed  in  his  way,  the 
seductions  offered  to  him,  give  the  set- 
ting of  sombre  and  brilliant  pictures  re- 
quired for  the  enactment  of  this 
tragedy  of  the  soul. 

That  the  black  magicians  should  have 
so  misjudged  the  neophyte  is  perfectly 
natural  and  true  to  life.  An  inability  to 
recognise  the  higher  natures  is  a  charac- 
teristic of  those  who  have  chosen  the 
path  of  self -aggrandisement.  The 
priests  who  surrounded  Sensa  were  so 
deeply  plunged  in  the  gratification  of 
desire  and  in  the  blind  materialism 
which  results  from  it,  that  they  no 
longer  understood  the  laws  of  evolu- 
tion and  did  not  realise  that  waking 
clairvoyance  and  the  true  Vision  are  only 
possible  to  one  who  has  entered  upon 
the  upward  path.  Therefore  they  mis- 
calculated his  strength,  and  met  with  a 
17 


THE  STORY  OF  SENSA,  AN  INTERPRETATION 

resistance  they  did  not  look  for.  They 
thought  that  by  the  mere  exercise  of  au- 
thority over  this  helpless  child  they  could 
get  all  that  they  wanted.  And  at  first  it 
seemed  as  if  it  was  to  be  so.  He  was 
taken  into  the  holy  of  holies  in  which 
dwelled  the  dark  Power.  Again  he 
sees — this  time  to  tremble  with  horror. 
And  he  refuses  to  obey  the  command  of 
the  dark  Power;  fainting,  once  more, 
from  exhaustion.  And  so  passed  his 
first  day  within  the  Temple.  The 
priests  seek  for  means  to  entice  the 
soul  from  the  body,  and  leave  it  un- 
controlled, to  be  used  by  the  dark  Queen 
as  her  medium ;  the  attempts  in  which 
the  fascinations  and  pleasures  of  black 
magic  on  the  subtle  planes  of  experience 
are  offered  to  him  seems  at  first  to  be 
successful.  The  longing  for  freedom 
from  his  imprisonment  can  be  gratified 
18 


OF  THE  IDYLL  OF  THE  WHITE  LOTUS. 

by  leaving  his  body ;  and  when  the  chance 
to  do  this  comes  he  takes  it  without 
hesitation,  in  complete  ignorance  of  the 
danger.  But  the  Lotus  Queen  herself 
comes  to  his  entranced  body  and  wakens 
it  and  calls  the  soul  back  to  take  the 
command.  Then  Agmabd  creates  a  per- 
sonification of  pleasure,  which  comes  to 
the  boy  as  another  child,  a  girl  full  of 
fun  and  play.  This  most  difficult  feat  of 
the  black  magician  brings  success  at 
last;  Sensa  follows  his  new  playmate 
with  natural  delight.  She  leads  him 
into  gardens  of  flowers;  among  children 
who  are  playing  games ;  and  he  becomes 
possessed  by  the  very  spirit  of  pleasure, 
playing  eagerly  with  the  others.  This 
time  Agmabd  conquered;  while  the  soul 
wandered  away  into  the  world  of  child- 
like delights,  the  entranced  body  was 
seized  upon,  used,  controlled  by  the  dark 
19 


THE  STORY  OF  SENSA,  AN  INTERPRETATION 

Goddess.  The  soul  of  the  neophyte  saw 
itself  surrounded  by  merry  children  like 
himself;  the  body  of  the  neophyte  was 
raised  up  and  surrounded  by  worship- 
ping priests,  its  voice  used  to  utter  words 
of  authority.  The  gay  and  innocent  soul 
which  had  been  led  from  one  plane  to 
another  by  Agmabd's  magical  powers 
was  happy  in  the  experiences  of  dream- 
consciousness,  while  its  body  was  thus 
used.  Returning  to  its  own  place  it 
found  all  changed.  No  longer  was  the 
ego  of  this  neophyte  the  ruler  of  its 
body.  The  boy  had  become  a  medium, 
made  so  by  witchcraft  and  sorcery  de- 
spite the  power  of  the  Lotus  Queen.  His 
voice  had  been  used  without  his  knowl- 
edge. His  body  had  been  worshipped 
as  the  dwelling  and  vehicle  of  the  Avidya 
herself  while  he  had  been  playing  with 
his  child  friends  in  the  dream  conscious- 
20 


OF  THE  IDYLL  OF  THE  WHITE  LOTUS. 

ness.  It  is  a  most  interesting  study  in 
the  simultaneous  enactment  of  events, 
and  in  the  passing  of  the  soul  from  one 
state  of  consciousness  to  another,  which 
is  here  given.  Ambition  and  emulation 
have  come  to  him  in  the  subtile  conscious- 
ness, artfully  drawn  forth  in  him  by 
the  black  magician  who  is  guiding  his 
fate ;  he  is  the  successful  competitor  in 
the  games,  and  then  he  is  lifted  up  to  be 
a  leader  of  the  children  and  placed  on  a 
throne  in  their  midst  to  speak  to  them. 
He  is  quite  forgetful  of  his  body  and  of 
his  responsibility  with  regard  to  it,  ex- 
cited by  the  subtile  pleasures  offered  to 
him.  Then  he  "  fell  asleep  "  as  it  is  ex- 
pressed. Any  one  who  has  had  a  very 
vivid  dream  consciousness  and  returned 
suddenly  from  it  to  the  physical  con- 
sciousness will  recognise  this  description 
as  perfectly  correct.  The  feeling  is  ex- 
21 


THE  STORY  OF  SENSA,  AN  INTERPRETATION 

actly  the  same  as  that  of  falling  asleep 
in  the  physical  consciousness.  Followed 
by  the  voices  of  the  children  acclaiming 
him  and  praising  him,  he  entered  into  his 
body  and  found  it  surrounded  by  wor- 
shipping priests  to  whom  he  had  spoken 
words  he  knew  not,  and  could  not  have 
understood  if  he  had  known  them.  The 
only  child  among  the  crowd  was  the  little 
girl  who  had  led  him  into  the  gardens  of 
subtile  pleasure  and  returned  with  him; 
the  creature  of  Agmabd,  a  form  ani- 
mated by  his  mind.  The  manner  in 
which  this  child  appears,  and  her  actions, 
is  one  of  the  signs  of  that  high  priest  be- 
ing a  very  highly  advanced  Yogin,  a 
sorcerer  of  the  first  rank.  And  even 
now,  so  late  in  his  career,  he  might  have 
cast  the  darkness  from  him  and  become 
by  suffering  and  expiation,  a  Yogin  of 
the  first  rank.  But  he  is  unable  to  pass 
22 


OF  THE  IDYLL  OF  THE  WHITE  LOTUS. 

beyond  the  contemplation  of  the  phenom- 
enal universe.  He  cannot  escape  from 
the  thrall  of  the  dominating  characteris- 
tic of  his  nature,  the  love  of  power.  He 
is  destroyed  by  his  own  ambition.  He 
has  conquered  the  child-seer  who  goes 
helplessly  with  him  into  the  desecrated 
and  terrible  Holy  of  Holies,  there  to  be 
the  medium  between  him  and  his  evil 
ruler.  He  has  sought  long  for  this  op- 
portunity of  direct  communication  with 
the  powerful  spirit,  determined  to  secure 
the  prizes  for  which  he  has  worked,  the 
gratification  of  his  colossal  ambition. 
He  desires  to  be  a  ruler  in  the  world  of 
men,  to  wear  a  crown  of  absolute  power. 
Now  he  is  able,  by  reason  of  his  con- 
quest of  Sensa's  will,  to  make  his  final 
demand  of  the  evil  one.  And  he  is  im- 
mediately confronted  by  the  supreme  or- 
deal of  the  black  magician.  Till  now  he 
23 


THE  STORY  OF  SENSA,  AN  INTERPRETATION 

has  retained  his  claim  to  immortality  and 
to  the  possibility  of  ultimate  redemption. 
But  if  he  is  to  have  his  desired  prize,  he 
must  surrender  the  heritage  of  man,  he 
must  sell  his  birthright.  And  after  a 
brief  pause,  in  which  his  great  intellect 
and  his  widely  developed  consciousness, 
survey  the  bargain,  he  pronounces  "  the 
fatal  words."  Henceforth  he  is  one  of 
the  Prakritilaya,  those  Yogins  who  are 
soulless  and  without  knowledge  of  the 
Supreme,  and  who  must  ultimately  be  dis- 
integrated, or  "  resolved  into  nature " 
because  there  is  no  spiritual  being  within 
which  can  live  on.  And  the  boy,  looking 
on  him  as  he  makes  the  dreadful  choice, 
sees  that  his  face  grows  "  colder  and 
more  stony  than  any  carven  form."  Al- 
ready he  experiences  an  augmentation  of 
the  peculiar  strength  of  the  magician. 
He  exhibits  the  complete  perfection  of 
24 


OF  THE  IDYLL  OF  THE  WHITE  LOTUS. 

body  which  is  one  of  the  powers  of  the 
magician,  the  perfection  which  accord- 
ing to  Patanjali,  the  Persian  sage,  in- 
cludes "  beauty,  gracefulness,  strength, 
and  adamantine  hardness."  The  aspect 
as  of  a  carved  figure  had  belonged  to  him 
in  the  eyes  of  the  child-seer  from  the 
first;  now  it  has  become  confirmed. 
Agmabd  has  bartered  immortality  for  a 
mortality  during  which  he  can  be  injured 
by  none,  he  can  suffer  no  ill,  he  will  be 
immune  from  all  danger.  Such  are  the 
great  and  terrible  beings  who  appear  as 
rulers  of  masses  of  men  from  time  to 
time,  who  conquer  and  control  by  sheer 
force  of  will,  who  bear  charmed  lives, 
against  whom  revenge  and  justice  are 
alike  unavailing. 

In  order  to  give  to  Agmabd  the  crown 
which  he  demands  of  her  the  evil  spirit 
requires  twelve  "  sworn  servants  "  to  do 
25 


THE  STORY  OF  SENSA,  AN  INTERPRETATION 

her  bidding.  For  there  is  work  to  do, 
and  the  workers  must  be  secured.  The 
dark  Queen  tells  Agmabd  that  the  num- 
ber must  be  complete.  There  are  ten 
priests  in  the  Temple  who  are  hungry 
with  desire  for  pleasure ;  the  dark  Queen 
promises  to  satisfy  them  and  in  so  doing 
to  bind  them  to  their  service.  There  is 
Kamen  Baka,  the  second  in  dignity  in 
the  Temple;  his  heart's  desire  is  known 
to  the  dark  Queen  and  she  is  prepared  to 
gratify  it,  without  delay.  "  And  who 
shall  be  the  one  to  complete  the  num- 
ber? "  asks  Agmabd. 

"  This  child,"  she  answers,  and  by 
those  words  the  fate  of  Sensa  is  sealed; 
that  fate  which  changes  him  from  "  a  gay 
child,  a  happy  creature  of  sunshine  "  into 
a  "  sad  youth  "  whose  "  sick  heart  held 
hidden  within  it  many  secrets  "  of  shame 

26 


OF  THE  IDYLL  OF  THE  WHITE  LOTUS. 

and  sin  and  sorrow,  and  who  knew  him- 
self for  a  slave. 

This  terrible  scene  is  immediately  fol- 
lowed by  the  summons  from  the  dark 
Queen  to  Kamen  Baka.  He  enters  the 
holy  of  holies,  a  blind  man,  stumbling 
in  the  dark,  seeing  nothing,  altogether 
dependent  on  the  mediumship  of  an- 
other, despised  by  the  evil  power  whom 
he  serves.  The  dark  Queen  views  him 
with  contempt  because  his  human  per- 
sonality is  his  limitation.  He  craves 
personal  adoration,  personal  love  given 
to  him  by  those  around  him,  whom  he 
feels  regard  him  now  with  coldness  and 
dislike.  His  demand  is  easily  granted, 
if  he  pronounces  the  fatal  words  which 
belong  to  this  step  in  the  downward  path. 
He  knows  well  what  they  are,  and  with 
the  dreadful  glare  upon  his  face  of  the 
one  who  desires  to  have  and  to  take  all 
27 


THE  STORY  OF  SENSA,  AN  INTERPRETATION 

and  give  nothing,  utters  them,  though 
with  pain.  "  From  henceforward, 
though  all  men  love  me,  I  love  no  man." 
The  dark  Queen  knows  that  the 
strength  of  the  young  seer  has  been  tried 
to  the  uttermost,  and  orders  that  he  shall 
be  given  rest.  Agmabd  therefore  leaves 
him  to  himself  and  tells  the  gardener  to 
take  him  out  among  the  flowers.  Sebona 
is  not  to  take  him  to  the  lotus  tank 
but  among  beautiful  things  which  refresh 
his  soul  and  awaken  his  artistic  nature. 
But  all  true  art  is  fed  from  the  Supreme, 
and  in  the  midst  of  his  delight  in  beauty, 
of  his  rejoicing  in  the  glory  of  life,  the 
Lady  of  the  Lotus  suddenly  comes  to  him 
and  tells  him  the  mystery  of  the  water, 
and  shows  him  how  to  rise  upon  it.  But 
he  is  not  strong  enough  to  remain  with 
her;  he  falls  away,  sinking  back  into  the 
darkness  of  his  slavery  and  the  words 
28 


OF  THE  IDYLL  OF  THE  WHITE  LOTUS. 

she  speaks  to  him  become  but  a  memory. 
But  still  he  cherishes  them  in  his  heart 
and  they  ring  out  dimly  from  time  to 
time  in  the  obscure  regions  of  his  dark- 
ened brain,  as  the  years  of  slavery  and 
shame  pass  by  and  he  grows,  in  his 
bondage,  from  childhood  to  manhood. 
So  ends  the  first  Book  of  the  Idyll.  The 
battle  for  this  poor  human  soul  still 
rages,  the  Supreme  holds  fast  to  the 
spark  of  divinity  which  it  has  lit,  though 
apparently  Sensa  is  lost  and  is  fated  to 
be  one  of  the  black  magicians. 


29 


TH£  STORY  OF  SENSA,  AN  INTERPRETATION 


CHAPTER  II. 

THE  first  book  of  the  Idyll  can  be  read 
as  the  story  of  any  neophyte  of  the 
priesthood  in  the  days  of  the  degeneracy 
and  degradation  of  the  great  religion  of 
Egypt,  if  he  was  found  to  be  a  natural 
psychic.  But  the  second  book  contains 
scenes  and  events  which  show  that  Sensa 
regarded  as  an  individual,  was  not  only 
a  seer  but  a  soul  so  highly  advanced  as 
to  be  ready  to  become  an  adept.  He  is 
moreover  described  as  a  heirophant,  one 
who  teaches.  So  that  in  reading  the  de- 
tailed description  of  the  ordeals  and  tests 
through  which  he  passes,  it  is  inevitable 
that  the  student  of  occultism  shall  look 
upon  him  as  a  recognised  personality, 
one  of  the  great  ones  of  the  race.  Subba 
30 


OF  THE  IDYLL  OF  THE  WHITE  LOTUS. 

Rao,  who  observes  *  that  the  Idyll  is 
probably  a  true  story,  goes  on  to  say, 
"  Sensa  is  represented  to  be  the  last  great 
heirophant  of  Egypt.  Just  as  a  tree 
leaves  its  seed  to  develope  into  a  similar 
tree,  even  if  it  should  perish  completely, 
so  does  every  great  religion  seem  to  leave 
its  life  and  energy  in  one  or  more  great 
adepts  destined  to  preserve  its  wisdom 
and  revive  its  growth  at  some  future 
time  when  the  cycle  of  evolution  tends 
in  the  course  of  its  revolution,  to  bring 
about  the  desired  result.  The  grand 
old  religion  of  Chemi  is  destined  to  re- 
appear on  this  planet  in  a  higher  and 
nobler  form  when  the  appointed  time 
arrives,  and  there  is  nothing  unreason- 
able in  the  supposition  that  the  Sensa  of 
our  story  is  probably  now  a  very  high 
adept,  who  is  waiting  to  carry  out  the 

*  Esoteric  Writings,  page  240. 
31 


THE  STORY  OF  SENSA,  AN  INTERPRETATION 

commands  of  the  "  Lady  of  the  White 
Lotus."  This  view,  of  course,  is  based 
upon  the  character  of  the  ordeals  de- 
scribed, and  upon  Sensa's  action  in 
teaching  the  people.  The  grounds  for  it 
are  inherent  in  the  story.  But  it  is  not 
possible  to  identify  Sensa  with  any 
known  adept,  nor  has  any  such  attempt 
been  made  except  as  a  vague  speculation. 
Still,  the  idea  suggested  by  Subba  Rao 
that  the  ego  of  Sensa  may  yet  have  serv- 
ice to  do  for  humanity  gives  a  keen  in- 
terest to  the  character  and  adds  to  the 
profound  occultism  of  the  story  the  ro- 
mance of  a  personal  touch.  The  Sensa 
of  whose  trials  and  fierce  struggles  we 
read  may  be  amongst  us  now — visible 
or  invisible — embodied  or  unembodied. 
In  the  begining  of  the  second  book  we 
are  shown  the  boy  grown  to  manhood, 
though  still  a  young  man.  He  is  valued 
32 


OF  THE  IDYLL  OF  THE  WHITE  LOTUS. 

and  cared  for  in  the  Temple  as  such  a 
priceless  servant  would  be ;  he  is  amused 
and  waited  upon  by  other  young  priests 
in  the  intervals  of  the  exhausting  forms 
of  mediumship  to  which  he  is  compelled 
to  give  himself.  The  waking  clairvoy- 
ance in  which,  in  his  more  innocent  days, 
he  became  conscious  of  the  Lady  of  the 
Lotus  and  received  her  direct  inspira- 
tion, has  apparently  become  no  longer 
possible  for  him.  He  is  utterly  given 
over  to  the  madness  of  irresponsible 
mediumship,  and  knows  nothing  of  the 
dread  teachings  and  instructions  uttered 
in  his  voice  to  the  priestly  sorcerers.  He 
needs  not  only  rest  but  refreshment  to 
preserve  his  vitality.  The  dark  goddess 
had  said  to  him  in  his  childhood  that  he 
must  have  beauty.  She  told  him  that  he 
would  have  been  a  great  artist  if  he 
had  lived  for  beauty ;  but  that  might  not 
33 


THE  STORY  OF  SENSA,  AN  INTERPRETATION 

be.  He  had  other  work  to  do.  In  his 
childhood  and  youth  he  was  surrounded 
with  quantities  of  flowers  and  all  beau- 
tiful things;  as  he  grew  to  manhood  he 
needed  more  than  this,  and  was  allowed 
to  go  out  of  the  Temple  into  the  city  and 
find  pleasures  that  would  restore  his 
strength.  Throughout  the  story  he  is 
shown  as  being  only  attracted  by  beauty, 
or  by  pleasures  of  a  beautiful  kind.  He 
had  felt  no  interest  in  any  of  the  mental 
work  or  mental  studies  done  in  the  Tem- 
ple; this  would  naturally  be  the  case 
with  a  child-seer,  and  regarding  the 
story  as  that  of  one  who  was  passing 
through  the  initiations  of  adeptship,  it 
is  evident  that  he  would  have  evolved  be- 
yond the  mental  plane.  But  beauty  and 
beautiful  pleasures  attracted  him  so 
deeply  that  this  was  indeed  his  undoing. 
By  recognising  and  taking  advantage  of 
34 


OF  THE  IDYLL  OF  THE  WHITE  LOTUS. 

this  part  of  his  nature  Agmabd  had  ob- 
tained control  over  him  at  the  beginning. 
And  now  the  slave  of  the  high  priest  was 
sent  out  to  experience  all  the  seductions 
and  passions  of  human  life  in  the  city; 
knowing  full  well  that  his  chains  were 
upon  him  and  that  when  his  strength 
was  restored  he  would  be  recalled.  It  is 
at  this  point  in  the  story  that  a  new  char- 
acter appears,  Malen,  a  young  priest  who 
is  his  companion,  whose  connection  with 
him  is  full  of  mystery  and  meaning.  It 
is  Malen  who  suggests  to  him  to  go  forth 
in  search  of  pleasure,  as  otherwise  he 
will  die  of  exhaustion;  and  who  assures 
him  that  Agmabd  has  already  given  per- 
mission. Malen  s  leads  him  forth  and 
leaves  him  in  the  city  with  a  beautiful 
woman  who  is  evidently  a  re-appearance 
of  the  personification  of  pleasure  known 
to  him  in  childhood  as  his  little  girl  play- 
35 


THE  STORY  OF  SENSA,  AN  INTERPRETATION 

mate.  The  description  of  his  meeting 
with  her  again  is  most  wonderfully  vivid. 
He  is  amazed  to  think  that  he  has  so  long 
neglected  her.  So  Malen  leaves  him  in 
the  company  of  a  creature  formed  by 
Agmabd  from  one  of  the  serpents  which 
are  the  dark  Queen's  living  robe.  When 
the  child-seer's  innocent  eyes  had  seen 
this  garment  of  Desire  upon  the  evil  spirit 
it  had  filled  him  with  horror.  But  this 
horror  had  left  him,  he  had  become  fa- 
miliar with  the  aspect  of  the  monstrous 
forms ;  and  now  when  by  sorcery  the  evil 
thing  was  made  lovely  he  dwelled  with 
it  in  delight.  Uncounted  Time  passed 
by;  he  reckoned  it  not.  But  Agmabd 
watched  and  waited,  counting  all  and 
knowing  all.  And  when  the  great  day 
of  the  river  festival  arrived  he  went  into 
the  city  of  pleasure  to  fetch  the  seer  of 
the  Temple,  saying  simply :  "  Come !  " 

36 


OF  THE  IDYLL  OF  THE  WHITE  LOTUS. 

And  the  seer,  knowing  himself  a  slave, 
obeyed.  The  beautiful  woman  who  was 
his  companion,  vanished;  the  sorcerer 
had  removed  the  spell,  and  when  Sensa 
looked  for  her  he  saw  but  a  serpent 
which  reared  its  head.  Agmabd  smiles 
at  his  fear  and  assures  him  that  this  fav- 
orite of  the  evil  one  will  not  harm  the 
chosen  servant.  But  Sensa  cannot  look 
on  the  horrible  shape  undisguised,  and 
he  hears  its  hiss  of  anger  as  he  goes  with 
averted  eyes.  His  was  the  true  seer's 
love  for  true  beauty  which  is  beautiful 
to  the  core.  Still  pleasure  and  rest  had 
restored  his  strength,  and  as  the  "  chosen 
servant "  of  the  dark  Queen  he  follows 
Agmabd,  a  deep  gloom  falling  on  him  as 
he  enters  the  Temple.  The  hour  of  the 
great  ordeal  is  at  hand,  and  he  knows  it, 
blinded  and  besotted  though  he  is. 
It  will  be  well,  before  entering  upon 
37 


THE  STORY  OF  SENSA,  AN  INTERPRETATION 

the  consideration  of  the  great  ordeal,  to 
go  over  the  story  from  the  commence- 
ment once  more  in  the  light  of  its  real, 
vital  interpretation,  that  of  the  Tragedy 
of  the  Soul.  In  the  other  two  interpreta- 
tions there  are  necessarily  limitations; 
we  are  taken  into  the  atmosphere  of  an- 
cient Egypt,  or  into  the  personal  life  of 
a  great  adept  and  must  remain  there  till 
the  end  of  the  mysterious  narrative. 
How  mysterious  is  this  narrative  be- 
gins to  be  apparent  to  the  student  only 
as  he  understands  that  the  soul-tragedy 
which  is  so  perfectly  fitted  into  the  splen- 
did setting  is  literally  the  story  of  Every- 
Soul,  of  all  souls  that  incarnate  on  this 
earth,  and  that  it  is  a  drama  which  is 
continually  enacted  from  all  time  and  to 
all  time,  in  all  races  and  countries  and  in 
all  conditions.  As  it  took  place  in  the 
past,  so  it  is  taking  place  now,  and  here. 

38 


OF  THE  IDYLL  OF  THE  WHITE  LOTUS. 

To  the  Soul,  liberation  is  a  birthright; 
as  it  descended  into  matter  so  it  must 
eventually  emerge  therefrom,  freed  and 
purified.  We  ourselves,  and  those  others 
of  the  race  whom  we  know  and  can 
observe,  are  at  one  point  or  at  an- 
other of  this  universal  path.  In  the 
great  Sanskrit  teachings  the  same  story 
is  told  in  the  Bhagavad  Gita,  where  Ar- 
gund,  the  Soul  of  man,  is  shown  fight- 
ing upon  the  battlefield  of  his  human  na- 
ture. The  whole  of  the  Gita  bears  this 
interpretation,  while  it  can  also  be  read 
as  the  story  of  a  war.  So  the  whole  of 
the  Idyll  bears  this  interpretation,  while 
it  can  also  be  read  as  the  story  of  a 
seer.  In  both  cases  the  story  is  most  per- 
fect and  complete  when  regarded  in  the 
greater  meaning,  although  in  each  case 
the  setting  in  which  it  is  so  fitted  as  to 
be  hidden  to  the  ordinary  reader,  is  true 
39 


THE  STORY  Oi'  SENSA,  AN  INTERPRETATION 

to  the  life  of  the  ancient  peoples  from 
whom  the  Song  and  the  Idyll  have  been 
drawn.  The  short  preface,  written  in  the 
same  manner  as  the  prologue,  and  the 
narrative,  states  clearly  and  concisely 
the  real  meaning  of  the  whole. 

"  The  ensuing  pages  contain  a  story 
which  has  been  told  in  all  ages  and  among 
every  people.  It  is  the  Tragedy  of  the 
Soul.  Attracted  by  Desire,  the  ruling 
element  in  the  lower  nature  of  man,  it 
stoops  to  sin;  brought  to  itself  by  suf- 
fering, it  turns  for  help  to  the  redeem- 
ing spirit  within;  and  in  the  final  sacri- 
fice achieves  its  apotheosis  and  sheds  a 
blessing  on  mankind." 

The  key  to  the  meaning  of  the  Idyll 
in  this  aspect  lies  in  the  point  that  Sensa, 
when  he  enters  the  Temple  gate,  enters 
his  physical  body.  From  that  moment 
everything  which  is  related  takes  place 
40 


OF  THE  IDYLL  OF  THE  WHITE  LOTUS. 

within  himself ;  every  person  who  plays  a 
part  in  the  drama  is  a  personification  of 
a  quality  or  characteristic  of  his  own 
nature.  When  he  goes  into  the  city  for 
pleasure,  when  he  appears  among  the 
people  on  the  sacred  boat,  when  he  speaks 
to  the  people  at  the  gate,  the  events 
are  still  being  enacted  within  himself, 
for  in  each  case  it  is  a  part  of  himself 
which  he  meets  and  encounters.  The 
beautiful  woman  in  the  city  is  a  form 
of  his  own  desire;  the  dark  goddess  on 
the  sacred  boat  is  his  own  evil  nature; 
the  Lily  Queen  is  his  own  divine  nature. 
The  All-mother — Isis  of  Egypt — who 
guides  the  souls  of  men  to  their  places 
of  birth  upon  earth  brings  him  to  the  gate 
of  the  Temple.  From  the  quiet  fields  of 
the  unborn  she  leads  him  into  the  world 
of  men,  where  he  is  at  once  roused  and 
captivated  by  the  sights  and  sounds  of 
41 


THE  STORY  OF  SENSA,  AN  INTERPRETATION 

this  special  form  of  life — human  life. 
She,  the  veiled  and  mystic  Mother,  comes 
from  Eternity  into  Time,  when  she 
guides  souls  hither;  and  she  pauses  a 
brief  moment  ere  her  return,  to  gaze 
upon  the  confusion  and  listen  to  the 
babble,  which  are  a  part  of  human  evolu- 
tion. 

She  has  nothing  to  do  with  physical 
birth,  or  with  the  raising  of  the  Temple 
— when  it  is  ready  to  receive  the  soul  and 
come  into  communication  with  its  ego, 
she  plays  her  incessant  and  unwearying 
part  of  bringing  the  soul  to  the  gate  and 
stays  until  it  is  admitted  and  the  gate 
closed  upon  it.  We  therefore  see  Sensa 
first  not  as  a  baby,  but  as  a  young  boy, 
at  the  time  when  the  awakening  of  hu- 
man intelligence  usually  takes  place,  and 
that  which  draws  him  to  enter  the  gate, 
that  which  attracts  and  awakens  him  is 
42 


OF  THE  IDYLL  OF  THE  WHITE  LOTUS. 

Ambition,  personified  as  the  high  priest 
Agmabd. 

The  personification  of  various  parts  of 
man's  nature  as  Agmabd  and  the  other 
priests  of  the  Temple,  and  as  the  other 
persons  who  take  part  in  the  story,  is  nat- 
ural for  an  Egyptian  author  and  charac- 
teristic of  the  modes  of  thought  of  his 
race.  Professor  Wiedemann  of  Bonn 
says,  "  the  body  of  man  throughout  life 
was  regarded  [by  the  ancient  Egyptian] 
as  a  battlefield  where  good  and  evil 
spirits  fought  for  the  mastery." 

The  soul,  entering  into  its  human  con- 
sciousness, is  first  seized  upon  by  ambi- 
tion, and  under  its  direction  surveys  the 
possibilities  of  its  kingdom. 

It  is  indicated  at  once,  by  the  actual 

movement  of  the  story,  that  the  mental 

life  of  man  plays  no  important  part  in 

the  evolution  of  the  soul.     Sensa,  enter- 

43 


THE  STORY  OF  SENSA,  AN  INTERPRETATION 

ing  the  "  large  and  beautiful  room  "  of 
intellectual  pursuits,  finds  that  the 
teacher  is  dim  of  sight,  and  the  neophytes 
who  study  with  him  pay  no  heed  to  life 
itself  and  do  not  look  upon  it.  He  is 
himself  the  teacher  and  the  taught;  and 
that  part  of  him  which  has  worked  upon 
the  mental  plane  for  ages  has  but  grown 
blind,  and  the  other  part  which  studies 
new  mental  statements  sees  no  fresh  re- 
alities, but  gazes  only  on  a  written  page. 
To  him,  full  of  the  craving  to  under- 
stand life  itself,  this  large  and  beautiful 
room  appears  bare  and  unfurnished  and 
he  passes  on  through  it,  by  command  of 
his  own  wise  intellect,  personified  in  the 
dim-sighted  old  teacher,  to  things  living 
and  things  real — the  garden  of  life!  He 
can  only  enter  this  part  of  his  own  na- 
ture by  permission  of  the  gardener,  who 
has  to  appear  before  the  gate  can  be  un- 
44 


OF  THE  IDYLL  OF  THE  WHITE  LOTUS. 

locked  which  admits  him  to  this  "  world 
of  delicate  and  refreshing  glory."  The 
instinct  which  has  led  him  to  this  gate, 
personified  as  a  novice  who  has  acted  as 
his  guide  from  the  time  of  his  entrance 
into  the  temple,  is  now  strong  in  action, 
and  clamours  that  he  shall  be  admitted. 
Three  times  does  he  ring  the  bell  before 
the  gardener  answers  the  summons. 
And  when  at  last  he  slowly  comes,  mov- 
ing among  the  flowers  in  his  black  robe, 
and  agrees  to  receive  the  "  new  pupil "  it 
is  instinct  which  unlocks  the  gate,  ushers 
the  Soul  through  it  and  returning  into 
the  inner  dimness,  is  seen  no  more. 

"  Come  with  me,"  says  the  gardener, 
"  and  fear  not." 

Who  is  this  "  strange  man  whose 
face  would  awaken  interest  in  any  hu- 
man breast  ?" 

45 


THE  STORY  OF  SENSA,  AN  INTERPRETATION 


CHAPTER  III. 

THE  story  of  Sensa,  is,  as  we  are  told 
by  its  author,  in  the  preface,  the  tragedy 
of  the  soul  of  man.  It  takes  no  heed  of 
the  bodily  life,  or  the  mental  life  of  man. 
Its  activity  and  movement  begin  with  the 
meeting  with  the  gardener  when  the  soul 
awakens  and  by  its  own  instinct  and 
effort  reaches  out  beyond  the  walls  of 
the  temple  to  the  mystery  of  that  garden 
which  belongs  to  it.  This  is  not  the  field 
of  open  nature,  but  the  temple  garden, 
man's  heritage,  as  much  as  the  temple 
itself.  But,  though  it  belongs  to  the 
soul,  the  gardener  must  show  the  way 
among  its  beauties;  Sensa  would  be 
helpless  without  him.  Too  often  does 


OF  THE  IDYLL  OF  THE  WHITE  LOTUS. 

the  soul  remain  imprisoned  in  its  temple, 
ignorant  that  there  is  a  temple  garden, 
for  lack  of  demanding  help  from  the 
gardener. 

This  is  how  Subba  Rao  speaks  of  the 
gardener,  in  Esoteric  Writings. 

"  Sebona,  the  gardener  is  intuition. 
'  They  cannot  make  a  phantom  of  me,' 
declares  Sebona;  and  in  saying  so  this 
unsophisticated  but  honest  rustic  truly 
reveals  his  own  mystery." 

While  Sensa  is  in  the  garden  the  very 
existence  of  ambition  is  forgotten  by 
him.  Agmabd  controls  him  when  he  is 
within  the  temple  walls,  but  not  when  he 
enters  into  that  higher  consciousness 
which  is  represented  by  the  garden.  His 
intuition  is  then  his  guide,  and  leads 
him  to  the  sacred  lotus  tank  without  de- 
lay and  we  are  at  once  at  the  heart  of 
the  mystery,  in  the  thick  of  the  story; 
.47 


THE  STORY  OF  SENSA,  AN  INTERPRETATION 

the  battle  has  begun.  His  own  spiritual 
intelligence  is  within  this  garden,  and 
by  its  aid  he  can  perceive  the  light  of  the 
Logos, — wisdom.  We  are  shown,  practi- 
cally, what  is  waking  clairvoyance,  as, 
later  on  we  are  shown,  practically,  what 
is  mediumship.  By  the  help  of  intu- 
ition Sensa  raises  himself  into  conscious- 
ness in  his  spiritual  body  [the  sixth  prin- 
ciple of  man  according  to  the  sevenfold 
constitution  of  the  microcosm  derived 
from  Brahminical  philosophy].  This 
spiritual  being  in  its  awakened  and  en- 
lightened state  is  able  to  perceive  wis- 
dom, and  therefore  Sensa,  the  human 
monad,  is  able  to  hold  direct  communi- 
cation with  the  Logos.  Intuition  has 
led  him  to  the  home  of  the  Lady  of 
the  Lotus,  passing  by  all  the  other 
flowers,  drawn  by  the  sound  of  the 
"  delicate-voiced "  waters.  There  he 

48 


OF  THE  IDYLL  OF  THE  WHITE  LOTUS. 

sees  the  Goddess  of  Truth,  and  endeav- 
ours to  approach  her;  but  he  is  not 
strong  enough  to  succeed  in  this  first  at- 
tempt, and  sinks  down  through  the  planes 
of  consciousness  till  with  the  gardener's 
help  he  re-enters  the  walls  of  the  temple. 
He  does  so  by  a  different  gate  from  that 
by  which  he  had  come  forth — the  way  is 
now  not  that  of  instinct,  but  of  knowl- 
edge. 

And  now  it  is  necessary  to  consider  the 
exquisite  and  wonderful  mystery  of  the 
Lotus  Tank. 

In  the  astral  body,  or  etheric  double  of 
man,  there  exist  centres  of  life,  or  con- 
sciousness, which  correspond  to  the  nerv- 
ous ganglia  of  the  physical  body.  In 
the  ethereal  body,  as  we  are  taught  by 
ancient  Hindu  mystical  writers  as  well 
as  by  seers  of  the  present  day,  exist  cen- 
tres which  are  known  by  the  Sancrit 
49 


THE  STORY  OF  SENSA,  AN  INTERPRETATION 

word  for  them  "  Chakras  "  as  it  is  diffi- 
cult to  convey  the  meaning  in  a  single 
word  of  any  modern  language.  A 
Chakra  is  a  wheel  of  living  fire,  and  as 
the  ego  developes  its  higher  form  it 
learns  to  use  these  psychic  powers  of  its 
etheric  double  and  then  the  correspond- 
ing powers  of  its  ethereal  body.  As  St. 
Paul  put  it,  having  been  sown  a  psyche  it 
is  raised  a  quickening  spirit.  The  Chakra 
of  the  brain  is  the  seventh  and  highest, 
and  according  to  the  Yogins  must  be- 
come living  and  conscious  before  en- 
lightenment can  be  attained.  Its  San- 
crit  name  is  "  Sahasrava  Chakram," 
which  means  the  centre  of  the  thousand- 
petalled  lotus — what  Sebona  calls  "  the 
home  of  our  Lady  of  the  Lotus."  Subba 
Rao  in  his  exposition  of  the  Idyll  of  the 
White  Lotus  draws  special  attention  to 
what  he  declares  is  the  real  meaning  of 
50 


OF  THE  IDYLL  OF  THE  WHITE  LOTUS. 

the  Lotus  Tank  in  the  garden.  He  says 
"  Sahasrava  Chakram  in  the  brain  is 
often  spoken  of  as  a  Lotus  tank  in  the 
Hindu  mystical  writings.  The  '  sweet- 
sounding  water '  of  this  tank  is  described 
as  Amritam  or  Nectar  Padma,  the  White 
Lotus,  is  said  to  have  a  thousand  petals, 
as  has  the  mysterious  Sahasravam  of  the 
Yogis.  It  is  an  unopened  bud  in  the 
ordinary  mortal,  and  just  as  a  lotus 
opens  its  petals  and  expands  in  all  its 
beauty  when  the  sun  rises  above  the 
horizon  and  sheds  his  rays  on  the  flower, 
so  does  the  Sahasravam  of  the  neophyte 
open  and  expand  when  the  Logos  begins 
to  pour  its  light  into  its  centre.  When 
fully  expanded  it  becomes  the  glorious 
seat  of  the  Lady  of  the  Lotus,  the  sixth 
principle  of  man ;  and  sitting  on  this 
flower  the  great  goddess  pours  out  the 
waters  of  life  and  grace  for  the  gratifica- 
51 


THE  STORY  OF  SENSA,  AN  INTERPRETATION 

tion    and    regeneration    of    the    human 
soul."  * 

He  goes  on  to  say  that  the  followers 
of  Hatha  Yoga,  (which  is  the  endeav- 
our to  develope  the  soul  by  psycho- 
physical  training,  such  as  "  posture  "  and 
the  regulation  of  the  breath,)  believe 
that  in  the  ecstatic  trance  known  as 
Samadhi  the  soul  can  reach  this  thousand 
petalled  flower  and  "  obtain  a  glimpse  of 
the  Splendour  of  the  Spiritual  Sun." 
But  this  is  a  most  profound  and  difficult 
effort,  and  is  not  the  result  of  concentra- 
tion, or  of  trance  alone,  but  is  attained 
through  sushumna  (the  dath  of  the  Kab- 
balists).  This  requires  much  physical 
and  psychic  knowledge  and  effort.  The 
path  of  the  Hatha  Yoga  exits  for  those 
who  are  so  steeped  in  materialism  that  it 
is  necessary  for  them  to  begin  by  the 

*  Page  344,  "  Esoteric  Writing." 
52 


OF  THE  IDYLL  OF  THE  WHITE  LOTUS. 

control  of  the  body  before  attempting  to 
control  the  thinking  principle.  There  are 
many  followers  of  Hatha  Yoga  in  the 
present  day,  but  unfortunately  there  is 
an  indisposition  to  study  profoundly  so 
as  to  obtain  the  whole  teaching  at  the 
fountain-head.  The  bits  and  scraps 
of  it  which  are  practised,  such  as 
"  breathing  "  and  "  posture  ",  partially 
understood  and  separated  from  the 
whole,  are  a  great  danger  to  those  who 
attempt  them.  "  Concentration  "  with- 
out due  understanding  and  due  prepa- 
ration is  the  greatest  danger  of  all.  The 
follower  of  Hatha  Yoga  who  is  deter- 
mined to  attain  success  by  that  method 
will  give  twenty  years  to  the  conquest  of 
his  body,  before  attempting  anything 
further.  This  path  is  the  slowest  route 
of  all  to  the  goal.  Patanjali  Yoga  com- 
mences with  the  control  of  the  mind  and 
53 


THE  STORY  OF  SENSA,  AN  INTERPRETATION 

thinking  principle,  taking  for  granted 
that  the  body  is  in  subjection.  But  it  is 
fully  admitted  by  ancient  writers  that 
instantaneous  illumination  is  possible  by 
means  of  intuition.  And  in  Sensa  we 
have  the  soul  which,  if  it  has  sought  to 
reach  wisdom  by  the  weary  way  of 
Hatha  Yoga,  or  the  lofty  method  of 
Patanjali  Yoga,  has  left  all  this  in  the 
past.  He  is  capable  of  absolute  faith,  he 
is  a  seeker  after  absolute  truth,  and 
therefore  by  the  guidance  of  his  own 
intuition  he  is  able  to  raise  himself  in  a 
flash  of  enlightenment,  to  the  sacred 
water  tank,  which  is  the  awakened  organ 
of  perception  of  his  spiritual  form;  and 
for  a  moment  of  supreme  joy,  to  gaze 
upon  wisdom. 

And  now  we  come  to  the  point  where 
the  intense  and  vital  teaching  of  Light 
on  the  Path  is  needed.     The  uttermost 
54 


OF  THE  IDYLL  OF  THE  WHITE  LOTUS. 

tragedy  of  the  soul,  its  deep  degradation, 
may  be  spared  the  neophyte  who  has 
learned  to  "  kill  out  ambition."  But 
Sensa  has  not  learned  this  lesson.  Am- 
bition is  the  incentive  to  effort  for  the 
ordinary  man;  it  is  that  which  brings 
him  even  upon  the  path.  For  to  become 
an  occultist  is  the  highest  ambition  of 
man.  And  Sensa,  who  is  upon  the  path, 
who  is  capable  of  instantaneous  illumi- 
nation, has  not  learned  that  he  must  dom- 
inate the  qualities  of  human  nature  be- 
fore he  can  safely  enter  upon  the  exer- 
cise of  his  super-nature.  Therefore  in- 
stead of  controlling  ambition  he  is  con- 
trolled by  it.  Dark-visaged,  unnamed 
instincts  press  upon  him;  they  are  the 
creatures  and  tools  of  ambition.  And 
intuition  is  of  no  use  to  Sensa  now. 
Sebona  cries  out,  "  you  have  seen — you 
are  a  teacher  of  men  " — and  hands  him 
55 


THE  STORY  OF  SENSA,  AN  INTERPRETATION 

over  to  the  instincts  of  the  lower  nature 
which  place  him  immediately  in  the  thrall 
of  ambition. 

This  is  a  profound  lesson  for  the  neo- 
phyte, hard  to  learn.  He  does  not  know 
that  until  he  has  learned,  he  cannot  teach. 
A  glimpse  of  wisdom  is  enough  to  make 
him  think  he  is  a  teacher  of  men ;  and 
his  intuition  leaves  him  helpless.  From 
want  of  knowledge  he  fails  under  this 
first  great  temptation  and  becomes  the 
tool  of  his  own  ambition.  There  are 
those  in  all  ages  who  go  thus  far,  and 
no  further,  who  are  so  completely  dom- 
inated by  the  ambition  which  seizes  upon 
them  that  never  again  do  they  see  the 
Lady  of  the  Lotus.  And  now  begins  the 
battle — is  this  to  be  Sensa's  fate?  or  not. 

Ambition  alone  was  not  tempting 
enough  to  seize  and  possess  the  soul 
which  had  so  lately  looked  upon  the  Su- 

56 


OF  THE  IDYLL  OF  THE  WHITE  LOTUS. 

preme;  and  therefore,  the  high  priest 
does  not  address  Sensa  when  he  comes 
into  his  presence  from  the  garden,  nor 
does  he  act  alone.  So  soon  as  he  has 
looked  upon  the  strange  face  of  the 
illumined  soul  he  goes  for  his  great  ally, 
his  brother,  as  he  calls  him,  Kamen  Baka. 
This  high  priest  is  clearly  shown  by  the 
movement  of  the  story  to  be  the  person- 
ification of  human  desire. 

All  the  lower  qualities  of  the  man's 
nature  now  rise  into  activity,  anxious,  and 
determined,  to  obtain  the  mastery  over 
the  higher  nature  and  use  its  supreme 
gift  of  perception  for  their  own  gratifica- 
tion. In  some  natures  the  cold  and 
heartless  claim  of  ambition  for  power 
and  supremacy  would  have  sufficed  to 
effect  this;  but  this  soul  whose  history 
we  are  following  is  highly  evolved,  it  is 
full  of  love  of  beauty  and  of  beautiful 
57 


THE  STORY  OF  SENSA,  AN  INTERPRETATION 

pleasure,  and  therefore  the  priest  who 
personifies  desire  is  called  to  consult 
with  Agmabd.  Throughout  the  whole 
struggle  Agmabd  holds  the  position  of 
ruler  among  the  priests;  and  Kamen 
Baka,  though  called  by  him  "  my 
brother "  is  dominated  by  him.  This 
highly  evolved  soul  is  ambitions  in  de- 
sire ;  it  seeks  no  common  or  crude  gratifi- 
cation. The  lower  instincts,  personified 
as  younger  priests,  wait  upon  Sensa,  re- 
fresh him,  and  make  him  ready,  so  far 
as  is  in  their  power,  for  the  supreme 
effort  decided  upon.  For  Kamen  Baka 
has  advised  that  the  seer  should  be  at 
once  taken  straight  into  the  presence  of 
Desire  itself.*  From  her  he  draws  his 
own  inspiration  direct,  and  he  regards 
her  as  that  which  is  life.  Agmabd  per- 

*Avidva,  "  the  dark  side  of  human  nature  "  Subba  Eao 
"  The  first  illusion  and  the  last"  Ancient  Wisdom- 

58 


OF  THE  IDYLL  OF  THE  WHITE  LOTUS. 

mils  himself  to  be  led  by  this  advice,  and 
lets  the  soul  rest.  From  this  rest  it 
awakens  to  find  itself  in  darkness,  the 
awful  darkness  of  the  Temple,  and  sur- 
rounded by  a  dense  crowd  of  beings 
animated  by  desire  alone,  and  eager  to 
use  his  priceless  gift  for  their  own  ends. 
The  whole  of  his  mysterious  and  in- 
finitely complex  nature  is  demanding  life 
and  gratification,  and  this  fierce  crowd, 
silent  in  its  passion  takes  the  child  in 
its  grip,  and  compels  him  to  approach 
the  door  of  the  innermost  sanctuary 
of  his  being,  the  dark  and  awful 
holy  of  holies.  The  circle  of  priests 
which  had  surrounded  his  couch  when 
he  awoke,  closes  round  him  as  he 
moves  at  the  command  of  Agmabd  and 
he  passes  on  his  way,  powerless.  For 
not  only  do  these  nearest  close  about 
him,  but  they  are  closed  upon  by 
59 


THE  STORY  OF  SENSA,  AN  INTERPRETATION 

others,  and  in  every  direction,  so  far  as 
he  can  see,  the  crowd  closes  in.  Is 
not  this  the  true  picture  of  the  awaken- 
ing of  manhood  and  womanhood?  The 
whole  being  arises  in  a  storm  of  agita- 
tion, to  demand  of  brief  human  life  all 
that  it  has  to  give ;  the  little  spark  of  di- 
vinity in  its  midst  is  led  hither  and  thither 
by  it.  And  the  horizon  is  scarcely  to  be 
seen,  or  the  world  outside  remembered, 
for  the  turbulence  and  growing  strength 
of  all  these  strange  qualities  which  go  to 
the  making  of  a  human  being.  Sensa, 
passing  to  the  inner  sanctuary,  catches 
a  faint  glimpse  of  the  outer  world 
he  has  left  and  it  is  to  him  like 
the  face  of  an  old  friend.  Prisoned  in 
the  microcosm  he  looks  for  a  fleeting  in- 
stant upon  the  macrocosm  before  he  en- 
ters the  deepst  darkness  of  the  tomb  into 
which  he  has  descended. 
60 


OP  THE  IDYLL  OF  THE  WHITE  LOTUS. 

He  is  not  conquered  yet ;  he  is  still  the 
unsullied  soul,  and  the  first  sight  of  the 
lambent  fire  of  Desire  makes  him  alarmed 
and  miserable;  and  when  he  sees  its  ac- 
tual form  he  is  filled  with  horror.  Desire 
commands  him  to  enter  the  sanctuary 
alone,  and  he  neither  can  nor  will  do  so. 
Then  in  anger  she  reveals  her  face  to 
him  and  he  shrinks  with  loathing  and 
fear,  falling  once  more  into  unconscious- 
ness. Again  the  strain  had  been  too 
great  for  him ;  the  first  time  it  was  the 
attempt  to  reach  the  light  of  the  Logos 
which  was  beyond  his  strength ;  now  the 
revulsion  from  that  which  lurks  in  the 
darkness  of  his  own  lower  nature  utterly 
exhausts  him.  This  is  a  crisis  in  life 
which  every  one  experiences  in  himself 
more  or  less  definitely,  and  which  those 
who  have  the  opportunity  of  watching 
the  change  from  youth  to  maturity  take 
61 


THE  STORY  OF  SENSA,  AN  INTERPRETATION 

place  in  others,  are  familiar  with.  To 
the  one  who  is  passing  through  it,  nothing 
else  in  the  universe  is  of  any  importance 
for  the  time  being;  the  amazement  of 
discovering  within  one's  nature  the  great 
cosmic  forces  which  form  the  two  arms 
of  the  crucifix,  at  work  and  at  war  is  so 
bewildering.  That  good  and  evil  should 
be  encountering  each  other  on  the  gen- 
eral battlefield  of  human  life,  in  the 
affairs  of  men  and  of  nations ;  is  com- 
paratively easy  to  understand ;  but  that 
this  same  warfare  should  be  found 
within  one's  own  small  heart  is  at  first 
a  great  surprise  and  a  great  shock.  But 
it  is  so ;  the  fact  is  there,  the  microcosm 
reproduces  the  macroscosm  in  every  de- 
tail, and  the  great  dark  Queen  of  Desire 
who  is  almost  visible  in  the  midst  of  the 
carnage  of  a  revolution  is  quite  visible 
to  the  spiritual  seer  in  the  dark  place  of 
62 


OF  THE  IDYLL  OF  THE  WHITE  LOTUS. 

his  own  inner  nature.  The  vision  leaves 
him  almost  lifeless,  helpless  and  amazed. 
When  he  recovers  from  the  swoon  and 
cries  aloud  in  terror  at  the  recollection 
of  what  he  has  seen,  a  priest  who  is  in 
attendance  upon  him,  a  representative  of 
his  lower  mentality,  offers  him  fresh 
water  and  brings  light  into  his  room. 
And  then  he  proceeds  to  urge  upon  him 
that  he  need  not  fear,  that  it  is  only  his 
youth  which  makes  him  afraid,  that  he 
has  received  great  honour,  that  the  gaze 
of  "  our  all  powerful  lady  "  is  enough  to 
make  a  man  swoon.  This  priest  is  evi- 
dently an  emissary  of  Agmabd's  for  he 
speaks  as  one  who  has  been  told  what  to 
say,  and  recites  his  lesson  well.  He  bids 
the  youth  not  to  rebel  against  the  vision, 
but  to  appreciate  the  honour  which  has 
fallen  on  him;  and  above  all  not  to  be 
afraid.  The  arguments  brought  forward 

63 


THE  STORY  OF  SENSA,  AN  INTERPRETATION 

by  this  priest  are  those  which  every  soul, 
horror  struck  at  the  first  sight  of  evil 
within  itself  hears  from  its  urgent  de- 
sire— nature,  and  the  instincts  attend- 
ant upon  that  nature.  "  Surely  the  world 
and  all  that  is  in  it  exists  for  the  pleas- 
ure of  the  soul ;  is  it  not  mere  cowardice 
to  shrink  from  that  which  arises  natur- 
ally and  which  draws  and  leads  all 
men  ?  "  Unable  to  answer  such  ques- 
tions the  weary  and  terrified  soul  looks 
for  the  help  of  intuition  and  asks  for 
Sebona.  The  thought  of  going  into  the 
wonderful  and  beautiful  garden  of  his 
soul  rejoices  Sensa,  and  he  waits  pa- 
tiently for  Sebona  to  be  aroused  and 
brought  to  him.  Intuition  does  not 
work  in  the  dark;  it  needs  the  light  of 
the  sun,  it  lives  and  moves  in  life  and 
light  and  beauty.  Its  quickest  and  keen- 
est moment  is  at  the  wonderful  hour  of 


OF  THE  IDYLL  OF  THE  WHITE  LOTUS. 

dawn;  and  the  weary  spirit  must  wait 
for  the  first  faint  ray  of  light  before  in- 
tuition is  strong  enough  to  come  to  his 
aid.  Then  the  priest,  whose  words  had 
chilled  and  disheartened  Sensa,  summons 
the  gardener,  and  Sebona, — "  human ! 
loving," — if  uncouth  and  dark,  comes  to 
the  sad  and  shadowy  room  where  the 
spirit  is  brooding.  This  description  of  a 
weary  and  hopeless  night  vigil,  followed 
by  a  return  of  courage  and  hope  when 
the  dawn  comes,  will  be  recognised  by 
most  people;  it  is  a  part  of  the  common 
lot  and  general  experience  of  man.  Se- 
bona kneels  humbly  beside  the  gifted 
child,  who  demands  of  him  an  explana- 
tion of  the  reason  for  his  being  horri- 
fied by  the  sight  of  the  ghastly  face  of 
Desire.  Sebona  does  not  attempt  to  an- 
swer this  question  but  leads  him  forth  at 
once  among  the  flowers,  and  when  the 

65 


THE  STORY  OF  SENSA,  AN  INTERPRETATION 

joy  of  life  has  seized  again  upon  the  child, 
points  out  to  him  that  in  spite  of  the 
darkness  and  its  horrors,  the  sun  rises 
again  and  again  in  all  his  magnificence. 
Then  he  leads  Sensa,  unawares,  to  the 
lotus  tank  and  asks  him  if  he  sees  the 
goddess.  Sensa  is  still  full  of  fear,  and 
dreads  to  see  the  dark  and  cruel  face  of 
Desire.  But  when  he  looks  up  the  fair 
woman  of  the  Lotus  *  is  once  again  be- 
fore him  and  he  knows  that  intuitively 
he  has  once  more  reached  her  home.  Se- 
bona  urges  him  to  speak  to  her,  and  falls 
again  upon  his  knees  to  watch  the  great 
event  which  might  possibly  now  take 
place,  of  the  opening  of  communication 
between  man's  higher  nature  and  the  Di- 
vine itself.  Sensa  attempts  to  approach 
her,  again,  and  with  Sebona's  help, 
reaches  the  water  tank  in  his  higher  con- 

*Vtdya,  wisdom. 

66 


OF  THE  IDYLL  OF  THE  WHITE  LOTUS. 

sciousness  and  touches  the  very  garment 
of  the  goddess  where  it  falls  upon  the 
surface  of  the  water.  He  tries  to  look 
into  her  face,  but  light  radiates  from  it 
and  he  cannot  see  it  because  of  its  glory. 
He  is  blinded  by  the  splendour  of  the 
Logos.  The  Lily  Queen  addresses  him, 
and  this  gives  him  courage  to  ask  the 
question  which  fills  his  soul  and  haunts 
him. 

"  Mother,  what  of  the  darkness  f " 
Poor  quivering  human  soul,  asking  of 
its  own  highest  the  question  of  the  ages 
— how  to  deal  with  its  own  lowest.  And 
now  the  Logos  itself  gives  in  plain  words 
the  grand  teaching  of  the  ages,  taught 
always  by  every  true  philosopher  and 
mystic. 

"  The  darkness  is  not  to  be  feared ;  it 
is  to  be  conquered  and  driven  back  as 
the  soul  grows  stronger  in  the  light." 


THE  STORY  OF  SENSA,  AN  INTERPRETATION 

If  the  darkness  of  man's  own  inner 
nature  is  not  to  be  feared,  then  is  there 
nothing  in  the  cosmos  which  can  strike 
him  with  dismay  or  fill  him  with  alarm. 
For  the  darkness  of  "  the  innermost 
sanctuary  of  the  Temple  "  is  of  the  same 
substance  as  that  of  Hell  itself.  The 
Lily  Queen  explains  to  the  seer,  in  simple 
language,  that  this  innermost  sanctuary 
of  the  Temple  is  secluded  from  the  light 
of  day  in  order  that  it  may  be  illumined 
by  the  light  of  the  spirit.  It  is  not  so 
illumined  because  the  "  blind  priests " 
the  qualities  of  man's  nature  which  are 
drawn  from  darkness  (Tamos)  comfort 
themselves  with  its  brood,  and  resist  illu- 
mination. 

These  same  priests,  with  their  attend- 
ant brood  of  the  evil  thoughts  of  dark- 
ness, were  already  at  work  upon  their 
task  of  shutting  out  the  light  of  the  spirit. 
68 


OF  THE  IDYLL  OF  THE  WHITE  LOTUS. 

Sensa  was  drawn  back,  in  suffering,  from 
the  high  place  he  had  reached;  Sebona 
stood  rebuked  and  downcast.  Ambition 
and  Desire,  in  the  persons  of  the  two  high 
priests,  placed  themselves  one  on  each 
side  of  the  soul,  and  made  it  understand 
that  its  place  was  between  them.  Thus 
Sensa  re-entered  the  "  gloomy  gates  "  of 
the  Temple,  leaving  the  place  of  spirit- 
ual light  and  life,  guarded  and  guided  by 
these  two  ruling  and  dominant  passions 
of  human  nature.  He  approaches  his 
doom;  he  enters  upon  his  term  of  slav- 
ery. There  will  be  resistance — there  will 
be  veiled  and  fearful  rebellion — there 
will  be  flashes  of  illumination — but  from 
now  until  the  final  great  ordeal  Sensa  is 
guarded  as  a  prisoner  by  the  strong 
qualities  of  his  own  lower  nature,  and 
bidden  to  serve  them  as  a  slave  serves. 

69 


THE  STORY  OF  SENSA,  AN  INTERPRETATION 


CHAPTER  IV. 

AMBITION  now  assumes  absolute  control 
over  the  developing  nature,  and  compels 
intuition  to  remain  silent,  not  allowing 
it  to  approach  the  soul.  Sensa  is  impris- 
oned in  the  sanctuary  of  the  Temple, 
guarded  and  watched  by  the  crowd  of 
lower  instincts  which  figure  as  novices 
and  priests  in  the  drama.  He  is  prevented 
from  going  forth  into  the  garden,  or  from 
meeting  the  gardener.  The  composite 
nature,  approaching  maturity,  demands 
success  in  its  undertakings,  and  is  coerced 
by  its  overwhelming  crowd  of  lower  in- 
stincts into  measuring  success  by  the 
standard  of  the  world.  Wisdom  and 
pure  spirituality  are  of  no  use  to  one  who 
desires  to  win  prizes.  Intuition  makes  a 
70 


OF  THE  IDYLL  OF  THE  WHITE  LOTUS. 

great  effort  to  lead  the  soul  into  the 
higher  places  which  belong  to  it,  and 
finding  it  is  not  able  to  come  to  the  lotus 
tank,  Sebona  plucks  a  bloom — a  flower 
of  wisdom — and  sends  an  emissary  of 
his  own  to  take  it  to  Sensa  in  his  im- 
prisonment. A  strange  imprisonment  it 
is,  for  the  soul  is  shut  in  its  temple  by 
those  who  should  be  its  servants,  as  a 
king  might  be  locked  in  his  palace  by  his 
people.  Sensa  receives  the  flower  of  wis- 
dom with  the  utmost  delight  and  cher- 
ishes it  "  as  though  it  were  the  breathing 
form  of  one  I  loved."  His  great  anxiety 
is  to  hide  it  from  the  alien  eyes  which 
surround  him.  Encouraged  by  the  pos- 
session of  this  precious  thing  Sensa 
speaks  boldly  to  Agmabd,  and  tells  him 
he  cannot  endure  the  dullness  and  soli- 
tude of  his  imprisonment  in  the  Temple. 
When  relating  this  Sensa  stays  to  tell  the 


THE  STORY  OF  SENSA,  AN  INTERPRETATION 

reader  that  five  years  later  he  would  not 
have  dared  to  address  Agmabd  in  such  a 
manner.  Five  years  later  he  was  the 
slave  of  ambition,  as  are  so  many  of  the 
great  and  successful  of  the  world.  They 
obey  its  dictates  without  hesitation. 
And  in  a  little  while  Sensa  would  reach 
and  pass  through  that  condition.  But  as 
yet  ambition  does  not  mean  all  to  him. 
He  knows  there  are  intensely  desirable 
things  in  the  cosmos  which  are  outside 
the  scope  of  human  ambition.  There- 
fore he  speaks  boldly  to  Agmabd,  who, 
knowing  the  latent  power  of  the  human 
soul  makes  no  angry  reply,  but  places 
before  it  a  great  and  terrible  temptation, 
which  has  to  be  encountered  by  all  as 
they  pass  along  the  path.  It  is  early  for 
Sensa  to  meet  it;  and  fearing  lest  his 
strength  should  fail  before  so  great  a 
danger,  the  Lady  of  the  Lotus  herself 
72 


OF  THE  IDYLL  OF  THE  WHITE  LOTUS. 

comes  to  his  aid.  Agmabd  places  before 
him  a  volume  bearing  the  title  "  the  Arts 
and  Powers  of  Magic  "  and  tells  him  he 
need  never  again  be  lonely  if  he  looks 
upon  its  pages.  He  does  so,  and  immedi- 
ately temptation,  personified,  appears 
before  him  and  offers  him  freedom 
from  his  prison  house.  He  offers  to 
gratify  any  wish,  and  "  freedom  from 
this  room "  is  Sensa's  one  desire. 
"  Come  "  says  the  man  in  black,  "  fol- 
low me." 

"  No ! "  replies  Sensa,  "  the  high 
priests  have  imprisoned  me — if  I  am 
found  escaping  I  shall  be  punished." 

The  events  now  taking  place  must  all 
be  considered  with  the  picture  of  Sensa 
(on  this  plane)  as  a  young  man  entering 
upon  life,  born  well  in  mind.  Ambition 
directs  that  he  shall  take  a  high  place  in 
the  world.  Is  he  to  do  so,  or  is  he  to 
73 


THE  STORY  OF  SENSA,  AN  INTERPRETATION 

be  a  seer  of  spiritual  truth  disregarded 
and  despised  by  men  ?  Sensa  knows  well 
the  punishment  which  would  fall  on  him 
if  he  left  his  appointed  place;  the  self- 
contempt,  the  regret.  But  the  tempter 
does  not  stay  to  argue  with  him;  he 
merely  says  in  a  tone  of  command, 
"  Come !  and  look  not  back."  This  is 
the  moment  of  greatest  danger  which 
has  yet  come  to  him.  Had  he  obeyed  the 
tempter  implicitly  soul-death  must  have 
been  his  lot.  But  his  higher  nature  com- 
pels him  to  look  back  and  see  the  conse- 
quences of  his  attempt  to  secure  free- 
dom, and  he  beholds  his  beloved  Lady  of 
the  Lotus,  and  hears  her  voice  calling 
upon  him  to  return.  "  Lady,  I  obey,"  he 
murmurs,  and  is  saved.  Subba  Rao,  in 
writing  of  the  real  nature  of  soul-death 
and  the  ultimate  fate  of  a  black  magician, 
says,  "  A  soul — may  place  itself  en  rap- 
74 


OF  THE  IDYLL  OF  THE  WHITE  LOTUS. 

port  with  a  spiritual  or  elemental  exist- 
ence by  evoking  it,  and  concentrating  its 
attention  on  it  for  purposes  of  black 
magic  and  Tantric  worship.  In  such  a 
case  it  transfers  its  individuality  to  such 
existence  and  is  sucked  up  into  it,  as  it 
were.  In  such  a  case  the  black  magician 
lives  in  such  a  being,  and  as  such  a  being 
he  continues  till  the  end  of  Manwan- 
tara."  *  Sensa  is  saved  from  this  awful 
fate  by  his  own  sixth  principle  which 
comes  into  the  very  sanctuary  in  which 
the  human  soul  is  imprisoned,  and  calls 
upon  it  to  awaken  from  the  "  accursed 
spell."  He  does  so,  and  finds  himself 
in  his  prison  house,  quite  alone,  deserted 
by  his  tempter  and  also  by  his  higher  self ; 
compelled  to  endure  his  solitude  and 
realise  himself.  He  finds  his  flower  of 
wisdom,  but  it  is  "  languid."  He  clings  to 
*  Esoteric  Writings,  p.  247- 

75 


THE  STORY  OF  SENSA,  AN  INTERPRETATION 

it  however,  and  places  it  within  his  robe. 
By  this  faithful  clinging  to  his  blossom  of 
truth  he  is  strengthened  to  pass  through 
the  ordeal  which  follows,  when  Agmabd 
leads  him  blindfold  into  the  inner  holy  of 
holies  and  then  bids  him  look  upon  the 
goddess  of  Desire.  But  when  he  dares 
to  gaze  into  the  awful  darkness  fearing 
to  see  the  face  of  horror,  it  is  upon  the 
glorious  vision  of  the  Lady  of  the  Lotus 
that  his  eyes  fall.  She  soothes  and  com- 
forts him  and  bids  him  believe  that  he  is 
safe,  although  he  has  been  placed  in  "  the 
very  dungeon  of  vice  and  falsehood," 
because  he  himself  has  entered  her  atmos- 
phere. And  now  she  utters  perhaps  the 
most  beautiful  of  all  her  speeches :  "  The 
royal  flower  of  Egypt  dwells  upon  the 
sacred  waters,  which  in  their  purity  and 
peace  fitly  form  its  eternal  resting  place. 
I  am  the  spirit  of  the  flower,  I  am  sus- 


OF  THE  IDYLL  OF  THE  WHITE  LOTUS. 

tained  upon  the  waters  of  truth  and  my 
life  is  formed  of  the  breath  of  the  heav- 
ens, which  is  Love." 

At  her  bidding  the  weary  soul  lies 
down  to  rest ;  and  ambition's  record  of 
this  great  effort  is  contained  in  the  one 
word  "  Vain." 


77 


THE  STORY  OF  SENSA,  AN  INTERPRETATION 


CHAPTER  V. 

THE  soul  has  escaped  this  great  danger, 
only  to  be  met  by  more  subtle  and  deeper 
temptations.  This  is  the  ordained  line  of 
progress,  terrible  in  its  steady  advance 
from  one  pitfall  to  another  yet  deeper. 

Sensa  awakes  from  rest,  to  find  a 
white  flower  in  his  hand.  Truth  has  re- 
mained with  him ;  only  a  plucked  blos- 
som, but  still  a  flower  of  wisdom.  He 
regards  it  with  pleasure  and  is  happy  in 
the  contemplation  of  its  perfect  beauty. 
Upon  this  mood  of  content  and  confi- 
dence enters  himself  in  another  form, 
called  into  being  by  this  very  content  and 
confidence. 

A  little  girl,  younger  than  himself  and 
"  bright  as  the  sunshine "  comes  gayly 
78 


OF  THE  IDYLL  OF  THE  WHITE  LOTUS. 

into  his  seclusion  and  snatches  the  flower 
from  him,  shaking  the  water  from  its 
leaves. 

Man  is  tempted  and  betrayed  by  his 
own  powers,  up  to  the  very  threshold  of 
immortality. 

This  little  girl  is  interpreted  by  Hindu 
students  as  daiva-prakriti,  the  higher 
mind  of  man  rejoicing  in  its  perpetual 
youth  and  power,  and  its  capacity  to 
revel  in  the  primordial  light.  The 
plucked  bloom,  separated  from  the  root 
of  truth,  led  Sensa  into  this  greatest 
danger  of  all  to  the  highly  evolved  soul 
and  the  highly  sensitive  mind.  Subba 
Rao,  in  one  of  his  lectures,  speaking 
of  the  "little  girl  of  the  Idyll," 
pointed  out  that  daiva-prakiti  is  com- 
pared to  a  girl  by  Hindu  writers  and 
the  "  protean  power "  being  superior 
to  daiva-prakriti  therefore  all  the  souls 
79 


THE  STORY  OF  SENSA,  AN  INTERPRETATION 

of  human  beings  are  made  to  be  the 
wives  of  Krishna.  The  little  girl  is  the 
human  soul  upon  that  plane  of  glory  and 
pleasure  with  which  Sensa  had  estab- 
lished communication,  and  was  indeed 
none  other  than  Sensa  himself  in  another 
state,  using  another  form  and  entering 
another  consciousness.  It  is  well  at  this 
point  in  the  story  to  recall  the  fact  once 
more  that  it  is  Egyptian  and  emanates 
from  an  Egyptian  source.  Professor 
Wiedemann  says  of  the  Egyptian  writ- 
ings— "  parts  of  the  soul  are  treated  in 
the  tents  as  entirely  independent  beings." 
He  enumerates  them  as  the  "  Ka " — 
(which  is  the  best  known,  and  is  generally 
understood  as  the  etheric  double) — the 
"Osiris"*(  the  immortal  double) — the 
"  Khou  "  (the  "  perfect  shining  one  ")  — 

*  Professor  Wiedemann  says  that  "  Osiris  "  is  some- 
times used  for  the  Immortal  Double,  sometimes  for 
the  Ka,  (etheric  double  or  astral  form). 
80 


OF  THE  IDYLL  OF  THE  WHITE  LOTUS. 

the  "  Ba"  (which  was  the  human-headed 
bird,  depicted  by  the  ancient  Egyptians 
as  revisiting  the  mummy  of  the  dead) 
and  three  other  independent  souls.  These 
last  three  are  often  named  in  the  tents,  as 
the  "  Sahu "  which  wears  the  mumny 
wrappings,  the  "  Khaibit "  which  is 
shaped  like  a  fan,  and  casts  a  shadow,  and 
the  "  Sekhem  "  "  the  reverend  form  " 
which  is  the  transfigured  and  quickened 
spiritual  being.  Of  these  last  three  little 
is  said  in  the  tents;  they  belong  to  that 
higher  nature  of  man  whose  functions 
cannot  be  described  in  words.  This  sep- 
tenary conception  of  separate  forms  or 
souls,  acting  on  different  planes  of  con- 
sciousness and  all  attached  to  the  physi- 
cal form  or  Temple,  and  all  engaged  in 
working  out  the  evolution  of  the  ego, 
must  be  borne  in  mind  when  considering 
the  story  of  Sensa.  Later  in  the  drama, 
81 


THE  STORY  OF  SENSA,  AN  INTERPRETATION 

when  the  little  girl  has  fulfilled  her  task 
of  making  Sensa  a  man  of  the  world,  the 
young  priest  Malen  appears  as  again 
Sensa  himself  in  another  form,  an  inner 
personality,  a  more  permanent  self. 

The  "  little  girl  "  is  a  favoured  servant 
of  Agmabd's ;  she  leads  Sensa  into  places 
of  inexpressible  pleasures  and  she  draws 
him  into  games  where  as  a  matter  of 
course  he  succeeds  beyond  his  fellows, 
and  "wins  all  the  prises."  Ambition 
stimulates  the  soul  in  this  world  of  con- 
sciousness, and  from  the  delightful  ex- 
periences which  befall  the  soul  in  that 
place  of  bliss,  it  returns  to  find  itself  no 
longer  a  free  agent  on  the  plane  of  hu- 
man life.  It  has  sold  itself  to  ambition 
and  desire  and  must  obey  them  implicitly ; 
the  pleasures  of  the  mind  are  the  pay- 
ment— some  given  already,  some  yet  to 
come,  for  the  "  little  girl  "  tells  him  he 
82 


OF  THE  IDYLL  OF  THE  WHITE  LOTUS. 

is  to  play  often  with  the  children.  She 
tells  him  too  that  in  future  he  is  to  dwell 
among  earth- fed  flowers — no  longer  is  he 
to  pluck  blooms  from  the  lily  of  the 
water-tank.  And  his  first  punishment  is 
to  find  himself  uttering  strange  words 
which  to  him  (the  soul)  have  no  mean- 
ing, for  they  appeal  only  to  the  lower  na- 
ture. His  inspiration,  poured  into  him 
from  the  Queen  of  Desire,  causes  him 
to  be  worshipped,  even  by  the  most  splen- 
did of  the  priests.  His  brain  is  not 
now  "  frenzied  with  the  follies  of  his 
own  conceit "  to  use  Agmabd's  words, 
but  he  is  obedient  to  the  spell  laid  on  him 
by  Desire  and  his  speech  gladdens  and 
satisfies  the  throng  of  priests  who  listen 
to  him.  All  bow  down  before  him;  the 
novices  kneel  to  offer  him  food ;  His 
room  is  made  sweet  and  beautiful  by 
bushes  of  earth-fed  flowers  set  about  it, 

83 


THE  STORY  OF  SENSA,  AN  INTERPRETATION 

and  great  bunches  of  flowers  are  brought 
to  him  to  satisfy  his  love  of  beauty  and 
fragrance.  Agmabd  stands  silently 
within  the  curtains  which  seclude  the 
young  seer  from  the  other  priests,  but 
Sensa  is  no  longer  afraid  of  him.  In- 
stead he  is  glad  and  proud,  for  he  knows 
he  has  satisfied  the  demands  of  this  cold 
ruler.  And  soon  Agmabd  leaves  him, 
and  the  "  little  girl  "  returns.  It  is  for 
her  now  to  lead  the  soul  in  to  the  great 
ordeal.  Agmabd  knows  that  she  alone 
can  do  it,  and  leaves  her  to  the  task, 
while  he  summons  the  crowd  of  priests 
to  take  part  in  the  ceremonial  and  to 
prepare  the  couch  covered  with  roses  and 
hedged  about  with  flowers.  Here  the 
"  little  girl  "  induces  Sensa  to  play  with 
her  at  ball,  so  that  he  forgets  to  be 
afraid.  And  when  the  sanctuary  door 
opens  the  "  little  girl "  leads  him  to  it 
84 


OF  THE  IDYLL  OF  THE  WHITE  LOTUS. 

and  so  brings  him  to  the  dark  goddess, 
Avidya  herself.  He  has  now  been 
brought  to  her  with  such  ga}'  companion- 
ship that  he  is  not  overcome  with  fear, 
though  the  child  leaves  him.  He  is  alone 
with  the  personification  of  the  dark  side 
of  human  nature.  When  the  goddess 
draws  him  to  her  he  perceives  that  her 
robe  is  a  living  thing,  a  drapery  of  coil- 
ing snakes.  And  then  terror  falls  on 
the  startled  soul.  The  dark  goddess 
laughs  at  his  fear  and  makes  her  robe 
dim  while  she  places  her  hand  on  his 
forehead.  Then  fear  left  him  forever. 
Again  he  sees  the  living  robe  and  be- 
holds the  serpents  wreathing  her  body 
and  rearing  themselves  about  her  head; 
but  he  feels  no  terror.  Doubtless  he 
knows  now  that  the  child  who  has  been 
his  merry  playmate  is  one  of  those  terri- 
ble serpents.  She  vanished  as  he  en- 
85 


THE  STORY  OF  SENSA,  AN  INTERPRETATION 

tered  the  presence  of  the  goddess,  going 
to  her  own  place  in  the  queen's  robe. 
The  little  girl  is  daiva-prakriti — so  is  the 
beautiful  woman  of  the  city — they  are 
identical,  and  both  are  himself,  his  own 
mind,  and  both  are  a  part  of  the  living 
robe  of  the  dark  queen.  It  is  the  souls 
of  men  who  clothe  and  veil  the  presence 
of  the  queen  of  darkness  and  her  living 
robe  changes  into  such  forms  as  they 
desire  and  will  to  have. 

Sensa  is  worn  out  with  this  severe  ex- 
perience and  Agmabd,  in  order  to  pre- 
vent too  great  a  strain,  allows  Sebona  to 
take  him  into  the  garden  and  to  let  him 
bathe  in  fresh  water;  but  he  is  not 
to  take  him  to  the  lotus  tank.  This 
is  because  he  is  so  changed  that  he 
cannot  approach  the  royal  flower  or 
the  sacred  water,  but  seeks  his 
freedom  from  imprisonment,  his  rest 
86 


OF  THE  IDYLL  OF  THE  WHITE  LOTUS. 

and  refreshment,  in  the  astral  fluid. 
Nevertheless  he  sees  the  goddess  of 
truth,  who  comes  to  tell  him  that  this 
mystic  water  is  fed  from  the  sacred  tank ; 
and  that  if  instead  of  sinking  in  it  he 
rises  and  kneels  upon  it,  and  by  another 
effort  rises  and  stands  upon  it,  he  can  do 
so  safely,  it  will  support  him.  But  while 
making  these  efforts  he  must  address 
himself  to  the  Logos  and  demand  illumi- 
nation. How  plain  a  teaching  this  is  to 
the  many  who  find  sufficient  pleasure  and 
satisfaction  in  the  experiences  of  the  as- 
tral life,  and  regard  these  as  true  gifts  of 
the  spirit.  But  to  them  the  Lady  of  the 
Lotus  will  come,  sooner  or  later,  and  lift 
them  up  as  she  lifted  Sensa  up.  She  does 
this  though  she  knows  that  he  is  about  to 
leave  her ;  but  she  will  not  permit  him  to 
forget  her  utterly,  and  through  the  dark 
years  that  follow,  her  sweet  voice  sings 


THE  STORY  OF  SENSA,  AN  INTERPRETATION 

dimly  in  the  obscurity  of  his  brain  and 
her  words  remain  with  him  and,  as  he 
expresses  it  "  cast  a  strange  light  upon 
my  wretched  life."  For  Sensa  now  be- 
comes completely  a  man  of  the  world, 
the  soul  within  him  being  entirely  dom- 
inated by  the  two  ruling  passions  of  men, 
ambition  and  desire.  In  the  company  of 
his  own  mind,  personified  as  the  beauti- 
ful woman  of  the  city,  he  drinks  deep  of 
every  kind  of  beautiful  pleasure  and  is 
utterly  happy.  And  then  when  Agmabd 
gives  the  summons  to  the  great  ordeal 
which  awaits  him  he  sees  the  beautiful 
woman  revert  to  the  shape  of  a  serpent 
of  desire  and  is  once  more  alone. 

Everything  connected  with  initiation 
is  purposely  veiled  and  obscurely  stated 
in  all  esoteric  writings;  and  so  it  is  in 
this  mystery-drama.  But  we  know  that 
the  initiate  must  gaze  into  the  dark  face 


OF  THE  IDYLL  OF  THE  WHITE  LOTUS. 

of  Avidya  and  upon  the  blinding  light  of 
the  Logos.  These  ordeals  are  endured 
by  Sensa  and  clearly  described.  He  suc- 
cumbs to  the  first  ordeal  and  becomes  the 
interpreter  and  messenger  of  Avidya 
herself.  But  having  been  able  to  see  the 
light  of  the  Logos,  he  is  strong  enough 
in  the  course  of  the  final  great  trial  to 
make  a  desperate  effort  for  true  freedom 
and  to  obtain  it.  He  is  depicted  as  hav- 
ing become  inhuman  in  his  ambition  and 
selfish  in  his  desires;  and  yet  the  great 
effort  is  still  possible.  But  it  is  only  pos- 
sible at  the  cost  of  life  itself ;  Sensa  dies 
in  the  struggle.  The  awful  Ten  drive 
him  forth  from  his  body,  which  dies,  and 
the  temple  in  which  it  dwelled  is  de- 
stroyed. It  must  be  remembered  that  the 
ten  are  not  homeless  when  the  temple  is 
destroyed.  They  belong  to  the  five-fold 
field  in  which  the  human  soul  works  out 

89 


THE  STORY  OF  SENSA,  AN  INTERPRETATION 

its  evolution,  and  they  pass  into  other 
activities  in  that  field  when  the  soul 
withdraws.  Man,  in  his  physical  nature 
is  mysteriously  united  with  the  physical 
universe  by  means  of  the  five  "  tattvas  " 
which  enter  into  his  composition  as  well 
as  into  the  composition  of  all  that  he 
dwells  amongst. 

In  the  light  of  Egyptian  modes  of 
thought  it  seems  clear  that  the  body 
of  Sensa  which  dies  is  the  personal 
individuality.  This  has  been  so  de- 
graded that  it  has  to  be  sacrificed. 
The  author  of  the  story  states  explicitly 
that  it  is  the  story  of  the  soul.  Isis  is 
the  mother  of  the  souls  of  men,  not  of 
their  bodies.  When  therefore  at  the 
final  fierce  ordeal  Sensa's  higher  nature 
asserts  itself  and  he  goes  into  the  holy  of 
holies  to  find  the  true  Queen,  the  light  of 
the  Logos,  there,  he  yields  up  the  dese- 
90 


OF  THE  IDYLL  OF  THE  WHITE  LOTUS. 

crated  personality.  "  I  am  perception," 
he  cries,  "  the  imperishable  soul  "  and 
at  the  command  of  the  Queen-mother 
enters  into  another  of  his  own  forms. 
In  the  disintegration  of  his  personality 
he  watches  the  sparks  of  life  disperse. 
Ambition  flees  forth  with  a  rush  to  feed 
elsewhere ;  and  the  soul  of  Malen  goes 
to  soul-death.  Here  is  a  great  mystery 
depicted  but  still  inevitably  veiled.  All 
the  names  used  in  the  Idyll  of  the  White 
Lotus  are  words  of  Hebrew  origin,  be- 
longing to  Aramaic  or  Arabic  idioms  and 
convey  ideas  which  help  to  explain  the 
characters.  Malen  has  in  it  the  idea  of 
a  refuge,  or  retreat,  or  a  place  of  recu- 
peration. It  was  Malen  who  guided 
Sensa  to  the  city  in  order  that  he  should 
recover  his  strength.  It  appears  that  he 
was  an  inner-personality  or  soul-form 
which  should  have  guided  him  to  a  place 
91 


THE  STORY  OF  SENSA,  AN  INTERPRETATION 

of  true  recuperation.  Having  failed  in 
this,  and  led  the  human  soul  astray, 
Malen  himself  no  longer  lives.  But  Sensa 
can  raise  up  his  deserted  form  and  enter 
into  it  and  use  it.  It  would  seem  that 
Malen  should  have  been  the  "  immortal 
double,"  for  by  using  this  form  the  "  I," 
the  ego  who  relates  the  story,  is  enabled 
"  since  then,  to  live,  change  form  and 
live  again;  yet  know  myself  through  the 
long  ages  as  they  pass."  But  he  does 
not  say,  or  imply,  that  he  re-enters  any 
Temple  during  these  long  ages,  or  in- 
habits any  physical  body.  And  indeed  it 
seems  evident  that  he  is  never  again  a 
soul  of  man,  for  he  clearly  states  that  his 
mother  *  would  not  know  him  in  his  new 
form.  He  is  suffering  a  great  expi- 
ation, enduring  a  great  loss,  as  the  result 
of  the  terrible  conflict  through  which  he 

*Isis. 

92 


OF  THE  IDYLL  OF  THE  WHITE  LOTUS. 

had  passed  and  in  which  vital  parts  of 
his  being  had  been  destroyed.  But  the 
Queen-mother  bids  him  arise  in  his  new 
shape,  and  he  finds  he  is  still  strong  to 
move  among  men  though  he  cannot  be 
of  them.  He  has  survived  the  ordeal 
and  is  claimed  by  the  Queen-mother  as 
her  own ;  and  she  gives  him  his  work 
during  the  ages,  of  influencing  the  hearts 
of  the  people — and  promises  that  he  shall 
live  to  teach  her  truth  in  that  "  new 
fane  that  shall  arise  in  the  distance  of 
time  " — the  transfigured  form,  the  "  per- 
fect shining  one "  which  shall  be  his 
glorified  Temple  when  he  has  won  full 
liberation. 

It  must  be  remembered  that  the  Egyp- 
tian held  that  these  various  entities,  souls, 
and  forms,  which  go  to  the  making-up 
of  a  man,  have  to  be  reunited  before  the 
transfigured  man,  the  "  new  fane  "  can 
93 


THE  STORY  OF  SENSA,  AN  INTERPRETATION 

be  built.  The  Queen-mother  explains 
that  Malen's  form  is  pure  and  un- 
stained, although  his  soul  is  lost.  He  led 
Sensa  to  the  city  and  left  him  there,  an- 
swering for  him  to  ambition  by  the  sign 
of  a  jewel  worn  by  desire.  Thus  he  be- 
trayed him ;  but  he  did  not  himself  stay 
in  the  city  of  pleasure.  The  ego  can  use 
this  form;  but  it  appears  as  though 
the  esoteric  teaching  of  this  mysterious 
part  of  the  story  is  that  the  soul  of 
Malen  must  be  recovered,  revived,  and 
purified,  before  the  "  new  fane  "  can  be 
built. 


94 


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B    000012976    7 


